Unreal: Resurgence
by AzureF
Summary: Jessica is now pretty well settled into her new, more adventurous life, but memories are hard to get rid of, and sometimes the call of home can be strong. Plus, there’s something strange going on whenever anyone mentions the Xeno’s…
1. Let's Train

_Hello, all. It is I, AzureF, returning from the pit of latency!_

_This... is the sequel you all said you wanted! I got to writing it, and though it will NOT be updated as quickly as the first story was, it has more than enough ammo to be finished soon. After that, I begin working on the last story in the series._

_BEFORE reading this, oh new readers, I **HIGHLY** suggest that you read the first in the series, Unreal, or else you WILL be lost. Fair warning._

_Unfortunately, my overwhelming inspiration for this has forced me to put ItEoaPS on hiatus for a while. I'm still owrking on it, but until I can figure out Kwei's character in more depth during the current part of my story, I won't be able to continue._

_But no fear. I haven't given up on a story yet, and I never will._

_This chapter is astonishingly long. Other chapters won't be quite this lengthy... or I don't think they will._

_

* * *

Damn, it's warm in this ship today, I thought, wiping a droplet of sweat off my brow as I stared up at the ornate, orange-lit ceiling of the ship, sighing, __Not like it isn't always. How do they stand it?_, I thought, wiping a droplet of sweat off my brow as I stared up at the ornate, orange-lit ceiling of the ship, sighing, 

Well, I knew the answer to that question pretty well. The Yautja came from a tropical planet, where temperatures were even more hot and humid than the insides of their ships. In fact, the ship was considered downright cool to them, even though it made both my roommate and me miserable. I had a feeling we would get used to it eventually, but after only about month of riding with the ship I still felt temperature fluctuations pretty keenly.

And it wasn't like I could complain. I mean, I had wanted this for my entire life, and an opportunity for this type of life and adventure was a once in a millennia chance. I wasn't about to be driven to the point of wanting to go back to my old life just because of a little lost comfort. It wasn't as if I hadn't been in this type of weather before, either. In my old hometown the more humid part of summer was much like the average atmosphere inside the ship.

"It would still be nice to have some normal comfort, though," I sighed to myself, fingering the string on my neck and the old, battered, and half-melted coat held loosely in my hand that was my only link left with my previous life, the one I had left rather abruptly to be thrust into this one. After my first adventure, I had never had the heart nor the will to get rid of it, even after retrieving the precious trophies from my first Xeno encounters on the ice of Antarctica.

Antarctica… it seemed like a whole lifetime had occurred since I had been there, stranded under the ice and being pulled along by events that were disconcertingly familiar. Familiar as in memorized, for they had been the same events of a movie, a simple form of entertainment turned all too real in the course of a single, life-changing miracle. I had changed those events by falling into the picture, saving two of the characters that were marked to die by successfully taking down one of the more powerful Xenomorph drones, one that would have been dubbed the 'Grid alien' had it lived past my fateful fall and been able to murder two of my very best friends.

Yes, Chopper and Celtic, as I still called them much to their amusement and chagrin, had become my friends, along with Scar and Lex. Geez, Lex had surprised me in the simple fact that she had agreed to come along with me. She had barely known me at all, besides the fact that I had been in the pyramid under the ice and was fighting with the 'hunters', as she had dubbed them. Well, she had known that I was a girl from a different dimension and all, but it was still amazing that she had decided to come.

"What are you doing, moping in the corner like that?" came a voice from the doorway. I smirked, lifting my head from staring at the already well-worn digits and flashing a quick smile at the woman that had come into the room, looking so much different from what she had when I had first seen here. Then, she had been a normal, if determined, human woman stuck in a crisis that she had had no idea how to get out of. Now, in her Yautja derived armor and with the proudly worn mark on her cheek, she seemed so much more confident. Happy, even.

"Thinking," I answered.

"About home?" she asked worriedly. I shook my head slowly.

"Not yet," I sighed, "But I was getting to it. Mostly I was thinking about Antarctica."

"Thinking about how you got into this, right?" Lex was amazingly perspective, I noted. But then again, I'd noticed that long before, even before we had been bunked together on the ship.

"Yeah."

"Not having regrets, I hope?"

"Hell no!" I said vehemently, "I'm damn glad I met up with you guys. You're all the best friends I ever had. I never had friends that good in my own dimension."

"Good, because those friendship ties are going to be stressed again," replied the woman airily, her tone suddenly light. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "Celtic is going to try and give us another lesson in formal Yautja language in thirty minutes, so I suggest that you get ready. You can't go out there in just your human cloths again like you had after we got here; I know you remember what happened."

"Gods, Celtic is going to try and _teach_ again?" I groaned, leaning my head back in mock prayer while ignoring the last comment the woman had made, "That guy is a horrible teacher!"

"Don't let him hear you saying that," warned Lex, "You'll get another cuff on the head. I heard your curse from the next room the last time, and you know how good these walls are at absorbing sound."

"What? It wasn't as if you were doing any better than me, though. Yautja language is hard to pronounce! I'm still not really sure if what I say is a greeting or an insult to his mother!"

That got her. Exactly as I had intended, Lex burst out laughing, having to lean against the wall with one hand in an attempt to stop her consuming giggles. In a moment, I began to chuckle as well, and soon we were both laughing our heads off so hard that it seemed as if we had both reverted to giggling schoolgirl mode. I saw a Yautja walking past in the hall through the still open doorway pause slightly, look over, grumble with twitching mandibles, and continue walking with a shake of his head.

_What? Is anything beyond gloating laugher dishonorable, now?_ I thought snidely as I watched him walk away, one eyebrow attempting to rise as I finally stifled my laughter, frowning as I remembered that not all of the Yautja were willing to accept Lex and me as warriors, even though we had proven ourselves many times over. I had gone through computer simulations, training, and even one fight with a Youngblood –caused by the wearing of my human cloths, I might add- in which we both came off rather battered, but with better respect for one another, and still many of the creatures refused to accept me. Lex had gone through even worse, being challenged by a full-blooded warrior and attacked brutally in the ring to the point of almost having her windpipe crushed by the larger and much more powerful creature's foot. If the elder hadn't come along at that time, she might have died.

Yeah, what I had gone through on this ship was a small thing compared to what Lex had. I hadn't been challenged by an opponent easily twice my size and four times my power and experience, then beaten so badly that I had to go to the medbay for days. I had been lucky.

Still, she had had Scar to comfort and visit her as she recovered. Hehe.

Maybe it was a bit of that aura around me I had noticed somewhat in reality. Even then, I had somehow instilled fear into people, even though I had had no ill will towards anybody in my life. In this place, as well, people tended to avoid me. All but the four friends I had gathered, and perhaps the elder when he came along, ever spoke or acknowledged my presence for more than the few milliseconds it took to figure out that I was one of the humans. Sure, the others were tolerant, but not polite and certainly not talkative.

Well, perhaps if they were they'd learn, like the others, that humans were a lot more than just prey.

With some difficulty, I pulled back to present time, noticing that Lex had managed to close the door and was already setting about throwing armor at me as she rummaged about in the storage draws set on the wall. Deftly I caught the pieces, glad for the reflexes that I already had a natural talent for and that had been honed to a fair degree by both training in the simulators and against my combat instructor. My armor was a strange mix of metals, seeming to be almost thrown together but in actuality was anything but. From what I'd heard, one of the master smiths on the ship had made it and Lex's because she had wanted a challenge, and found it in trying to fit armor for a 'ooman', as they called us.

It was rather beautiful in a deadly way; perfect interlocking plates of differing colors and textures all arranged in a mosaic that provided almost flawless defense. I felt so unworthy of the apparel. Perhaps, when I knew the language better and was allowed to roam any farther than the kitchens, beginner's training arena, and the spare rooms used for teaching, I would go and thank the smith properly. Yeah, that was a good idea.

"Jess, you're off in your own world again," Lex informed me, and I snapped myself out of my again dazed reverie with an awkward grin and stood, all my casual armor held in my hands as I slipped into the adjoining 'bathroom'. I noticed Lex's raised eyebrow before I went in, and I gave her a quick mock-glare before closing the door behind me by slamming my hand on the button by my head. She had gotten pretty used to my tendency to go off into my own mind, completely disregarding anything around me for hours at a time as I stared at some random object. In a way, we both found it funny and I was glad that someone, some other human, was able to understand.

"I'd better get back into the real world unless I want Celtic pissed at me again," I muttered softly as I slipped into the armor, fitting everything in its place with an ease that was born of long practice. It had taken me a week to figure out exactly where each piece of the armor went, and how it locked together, but now it was almost like getting regular cloths on. Only a few seconds of work was needed to acquire a presentable result.

I turned to go out, feeling a bit better now that I had snapped myself out of my thoughts and was going to go somewhere, but I suddenly caught the image of my reflection in the shuttered window looking out into space. Because it was so dim in the room, the reflection was pretty accurate, and I gaped slightly as I noticed the changes in what I looked like now. I stared at my arm, then the reflection, then the arm again, trying to remember if it hadn't always been that muscular. Well, I knew it obviously wasn't, but I had barely noticed the change at all. Hell, I might have even reached that goal of weight loss that I had been striving for years ago; I certainly looked skinny enough for it! In fact… I looked like an athlete… An athlete?

Blech.

Well, better an athlete than dead, I guess. Hehe, what I wouldn't do to see my mom's face if she saw me now! She'd probably scream, or faint, or both. Probably both. I mean, what person that had known me so long ago wouldn't after remembering the shy, quiet girl that was only outgoing at home and being faced with the new, more 'me' me. Especially the new me in armor.

"Heh, but if I went back I'd have to leave _this_, and I love this more than I ever loved home," I muttered to myself softly, "Sure, my family knowing where I am would be nice, but what's the chance of that?"

_None. Nada. Zero. Zip. It just ain't happening._

"I return to the world of the living!" I announced as I strode out of the bathroom, throwing my only outfit of human cloths on my slightly messy bed. I would have to wash them later, when I didn't have anything else to do. Lex looked up from sharpening her favorite weapon, the spear that had been given to her by the elder, and let a grin brush her face as she lovingly set the work aside so that she could stand. It was quite strange, now that I really noticed, how different our armor was. Where hers was a very dark type of blue-black metal that shone with a polished sheen, mine was dull and of dozens of different shades and textures of brown. If one didn't look at it right, they would swear I was wearing leather.

"Good, you take forever!" she said, stretching as I looked at her reproachfully, "I almost thought you drowned or something."

"Funny," I said dryly, "Maybe I did, and you're staring at my vengeful ghost come to haunt you for all eternity?"

She looked at me, and shook her head.

"No, I know you. If you had come back as a ghost you would have come up with a better entrance than that."

I considered.

"True."

I punched the button on the door to the hallway, and it opened promptly, revealing an empty hall as far as the eye could see. I had a sneaking suspicion that the elder had purposely given us our quarters in the most unvisited part of the ship to avoid confrontations with other Yautja, and personally I thought it was a pretty good idea. I knew that in every community as large as this one was, there were always a few individuals radical enough to try something stupid, like killing the humans in their sleep…

Not a good image. Especially not since I slept like a rock.

"So Lex, how do you think today's lesson is gonna go?" I asked conversationally as I trod the slightly echoing hallway, hating the cold silence of the ship's corridors. It was far too much like the shifting passageways of the pyramid for my liking, and often I found myself keeping an eye out –aka listening- for Xeno's even when I knew very well that there were none aboard the ship.

"It might go better if Scar is there," she replied, using the nickname that I had derived from the movie and Internet. The epithets were what we both referred to our friends as, even though we knew very well what their real names were, now. Scar was the only one that didn't seem to find the nickname embarrassing, and indeed seemed to like being called by it more than his own name, "He's the only one of them that's really any good at teaching, anyway."

That was only partly true, for where Scar was extremely and surprisingly patient when it came to attempting to teach the two of us their language, he tended to go a little too far for our abilities in combat training. Chopper far exceeded him in that respect, sparring only to our limit and no more, judging almost perfectly when one of us had reached the point where we couldn't do any better if we tried and stopping at that. The only thing he really didn't let us do was slack off; every training session was a grueling test of endurance and skill that, though it was more difficult than anything imaginable, was extremely rewarding, as well.

As for weapons and the use of them, that was where Celtic was strongest. I had been amazed at how much knowledge had actually been packed into that brain of his. Mostly the impression of being irritable, anti-social, and aggressive had impacted my assumption that the Yautja had been slightly dumb, and the movie hadn't helped, but now I knew that he was merely overly reckless and stubborn. Though those traits were major character flaws, they were alright by me, and in fact made him a bit more entertaining when it came down to casual banter.

"You just wanna see Scar," I taunted lightly, my tone teasing. Lex was used to this, and replied in her usual tactful manner.

"Fuck off."

I snorted with a laugh that was just barely held in as I punched the button for the door to the correct room, but I still couldn't hide the mischievous smile that had risen to my lips. Lex's smirk told me that this long-running joke wasn't over by a long shot, even if we had to go through a grueling session with Celtic first before she could start on getting me back. Man, it was amazing how much she actually had changed. Looking back at the movie and events in Antarctica, I would barely have been able to fathom this individual that was so much like me hidden beneath that slightly uptight and commanding behavior.

Cool.

"You two are late," came the gruff, guttural voice that I recognized as belonging to the largest of our three friends. He spoke slowly and clearly, having learned long before that speaking fast made it pretty difficult for us to understand him at all. In fact, he had a scar to prove the result of a misunderstanding during training. It just hadn't been good for him to say 'don't attack' that quickly…

"You know me, always liking to keep my audience in suspense," I replied, switching from Yautja to human in between words to make the sentence as confusing as possible. I seemed to have a talent for that that I had discovered while looking up words on the computer panel in our quarters, even though the switch rasped my throat horribly.

"Sit," he ignored me and gestured to the chairs near the back of the room, and with a muffled snort I made my way over, plopping down and promptly crossing one leg. Almost immediately I had reverted back to school mode, taking a bored yet attentive posture that I had yet to get rid of. Lex took a seat in the chair beside me, raising an eyebrow as she saw my now familiar pose.

Hey, they couldn't say anything. I'd been told that I was a great student at home.

Almost immediately Celtic had begun his 'lesson', telling of the various formalities of the language and the grammar rules of the informal version of the tongue we already knew for the most part. I decided to pay attention, seeing as it was important to show respect to elders and such, and informal Yautja just didn't cut it when it came to ceremonies. Briefly I wondered why Scar and Chopper weren't here; the three often taught the 'oomans' together, as it was easier on both them and us.

Still, after a few minutes, I felt myself begin to drift a bit, but managed to keep enough of my thoughts focused on the lesson so that I didn't choke if Celtic decided to ask me a question. In fact, I was staring blankly at his forehead, just above the scar that marked him a warrior. The large brownish-gray spot there looked vaguely like a dog sitting, if I looked at it from an angle.

"Jes'ca?" Suddenly, I found myself addressed by my name, and I sighed slightly as I heard again the apparent inability to really get the syllables down. Celtic's mandibles twitched fractionally as he awaited my answer, and I interpreted the twitch as smug anticipation.

"Forty-two," I said jokingly, but then I became serious before Celtic could react, "In that situation I would be sure to keep my head down and eyes lowered, but not lowered enough to completely obscure vision. I wouldn't want to be caught off guard if they got angry for some reason or other. Also, I would be sure to leave the area as respectfully as courtesy allows to give them time to cool down, seeing that I had just majorly pissed them off. Oh, and I've told you guys hundreds of times to just call me Jess. It's easier."

I could see that he had been trying to catch me daydreaming again by his expression as I looked up at him, and I smirked lightly as Lex gave a nod of approval. Well, I had always loved getting my old teachers with that. I listened better when I wasn't paying attention… though my notes suffered because of it. Memorization helped with that little bit.

"Correct," he said after a pause.

_It's not as if I don't listen, people_, I thought, _Contrary to popular belief, I do in fact have a brain, and it functions rather well._

I heard Lex answer a fairly difficult question that had been put to her easily, and gave her a wink when she got it right. I knew I probably would have had trouble with it, as I had actually begun to daydream again and missed part of what Celtic had been saying. Ugh, so much for saying I had a long attention span.

My fingers found the end of my hair, and I let my eyes drift down from the spot on the Yautja's forehead to observe the rather faded purple color that was the remnant of my old life and my first adventure. Oh, how I wished there were a way I could make those color streaks permanent! Only a month and already they were barely visible, my natural golden-red hair showing through the color in several spots. With a silent sigh I raised my scarred hand to lift my bangs from my tawny eyes and continued listening to Celtic's lecture.

Was it just me, or was he beginning to sound like my old Astronomy teacher?

"That is all for now," Celtic finished gruffly, gesturing for us to stand with one clawed appendage. I jumped up spryly, stifling a yawn and flexing my legs to regain some semblance of suppleness in them. Too bad Yautja didn't measure time like humans did, because I would have really appreciated a clock around, being a bit of a clock-watcher, "Jess, you are wanted in the training room. Lex may go."

"See ya later, Lex," I said to the other woman, flicking my fingers by my eyes in a type of half wave, half salute that was my version of a farewell. She let a small smile brush her lips as she pressed the door mechanism and walked out into the hall, heading back to our room and probably the weapon cleaning session that she had begun earlier. I turned to go, but nodded back toward Celtic with a grin, "Great lesson, Celtic," I said in informal Yautja, "I think I may have actually learned something that time."

"Yet you cannot learn to speak my name properly?"

"I like Celtic better," I replied, passing through the door and turning in the opposite direction that Lex had, ignoring the rumbling snort that came from behind me as I left. Celtic could be so uptight sometimes, but I knew that the name wasn't as big a deal as he made it out to be. It was just another one of those subjects that made for good mock-arguments.

The vents near the bottom of the hall hissed, beginning to spew out a thick, mist-like substance that wasn't quite fog, but in fact a type of atmospheric substance that had a chemical makeup like that of the Yautja homeworld. It served to humidify the air in the ship and ensure that the air didn't become stale. Now, after a month of living here, I actually found the yellowish-white gas comforting, and its strange smell didn't bother me anymore. I really barely noticed it at all now.

The door I was looking for wasn't far, but for at least the thousandth time I missed it, completely bypassing the door that looked almost exactly like the blackish brown walls around it while I was lost in thought. With a small sigh and a sarcastic comment to myself, I did a quick U-turn and found it, pressing the button lightly and striding through the doors to come into a large, open area that was fairly well lit. The floor was made of a sandy material that shifted slightly under my feet, and the walls were flatter and made of a brighter material, adding to the light. The door closed behind me with a sliding sound, cutting off the mist that had been billowing into the training room around my legs.

"Good to see you still remember where the training room is, Jess," chuckled a growling voice from the more shadowed part of the room, and I turned with a half-grin, looking up at the taller form and cocking my head in a teasing manner.

"Nice to see you, too, Chopper," I replied, setting a hand on my hip as I looked out over the sandy pit, "Now let's train."

* * *

_Oooooo, training. Fun-ness._


	2. Just Don't Piss Them Off

_Hello again. This chapter took a while to come up becuase I was attempting to get permission from CassieKnight to use the names she used for the Preds, but as she never got back to me and I'm impatiant I decided to just make up my own and go with it. Oh, and it's my birthday today,so I wanted to give my reviewers something special!  
Oh, and review replies!_

_Ranma Hibiki: (laughs) You're pretty funny XD Yeah, I'm sure that song was running through my head, too, but... not in quite so much "AHH! MY EYES!"-ness. Nice random words. They be fun and oh so random XD sugar..._

_TGBFF: wow, long name! You're like Jess, huh? That means you're like me! Hmmm... Anyway, there may or may not be continued relationships in this story, I'm not sure yet. I'm glad you liked the first Unreal, and **pwease** don't gouge out my eyes (stares pitifully) (yes, I spelled please wrong on purpose )_

_DarkXeno: Yeah, I know about that first line... the damn editor did it itself! (Gaaaaah!) Anyway, I'm glad you actually like my first person stuff, and yes that question may or may not come up in the course of the sotry, as it may or may not have been answered in the later chapters of 'Unreal' XD Broken spears can be useful, you know.  
Thanks for informing me about the dragon special. Too bad I wasn't able to watch it, but they'll have it on tape soon enough..._

_Bsdisaster & OtakusVengeance: Hehe, thanks for the support, guys!_

_Raptorchick: Hehe, brainmeats... Wha? Oh, yeah! Thanks! I like you're sequel, too!_

_Brafisra: Wow, you really think I am? Sorry to tell you that I'm not planning that type of crossover yet. ItEoaPS is strictly a stand alone right now. A different crossover may surface in the third Unreal, however...  
4-1-18-11 is one of the most simple codes out there, involving the normal alphabet and counting. I won't give it away, though._

_Specialguy: wow, I have no idea what you just said... O.o must be because of the lateness..._

_Oh, well. Chapter, everyone!_

* * *

I took up a cautious stance on the opposite side of the sandy pit, watching my opponent carefully for any sudden movements. Chopper growled lowly, feet shifting in the sand as he adjusted his position and muscles flexing ominously, causing his patterned flesh to ripple in an interesting yet slightly distracting effect. We were both in our casual armor, and thus carried no weapons. This was a simple –yeah, simple- hand to hand training exercise.

Suddenly, Chopper moved, his tall form moving at an incredible speed as he charged directly at me from across the room. The instincts of long training took over, then, and I crouched down, fingers brushing the sand as I waited for him to get close enough. It would only be a few seconds, now…

And then, much to my surprise, he jumped. I leapt back, using both my arms and my legs to propel me as I scrambled out of the area just before his heavy frame crashed onto the spot where I had been waiting, sand flying up from the impact and covering my hair and limbs with a gritty powder. With a growl I twirled and swung my legs out, feeling my sandaled feet connect hard with my shrouded opponent's leg with a force that made me grit my teeth. Damn! Even after living a month, I was still surprised at how solidly built these guys were!

But my effort did managed to make Chopper stumble, and I wasn't one to miss an opportunity when it came to me. Using the first technique that came to mind, I barreled forward, footsteps muffled by the soft sand underneath as I put all my power into my charge. Chopper turned his head just in time to see that he had been caught before my entire lithe frame had collided with his shoulder, sending him off balance yet again.

But this time I was at the disadvantage, and with a hard swing Chopper threw me off, knocking the breath out of me with his fist and sending a wave of pain through me as I was thrown into the sand at least twelve feet away. Ignoring the agony of my bruised ribs with the stubborn will that had been taught to me and was in fact a part of my nature, I rolled and sprang upwards, fingers spread wickedly to reveal the long, carefully grown nails that could easily rip through skin. Reluctantly, however, I closed my hands and balled them into fists; it wasn't right to draw blood in hand-to-hand combat unless it was by accident.

A sudden kick to the middle almost threw me into the air yet again, but this time I did something that was unexpected, even to Chopper, who had known me longer than any of the Yautja. Using all the strength in my arms to hold on and hooking my feet under his calf, I clung to the leg like a leech, preventing myself from being flung haphazardly. As soon as the forward momentum had reached its peak, I let go, flying backwards in a controlled leap through the air and landing in the sand with a spray of dirt, again settled into my crouching, almost animal pose.

Lucky for me, I saw Chopper's descending arm in time to roll out of the way, but I was starting to breath hard and the kick to the gut hadn't helped the situation any. Man, how I wished I was faster, just by a bit! Chopper could easily keep up with me, and I had to struggle to even see his movements in the swirling dirt that was kicked up by our actions. It was always the same, no matter how much I trained. Chopper told me that I was beginning to improve, but I couldn't see it all that well. I always lost, every time, no matter what I came up with.

I sprang upwards just as the Yautja's foot whistled through the air, attempting to trip me up. Almost before my feet had touched the ground after my leap I was moving forward, in plain sight, towards my opponent. Chopper let out a laughing growl as he easily evaded my strike, and I grinned slightly before I was forced to dodge his attack, retreated slightly in the process.

That got the cogs turning in my mind…

_You might just have a chance, this time!_

He stepped forward to throw another punch, and with a completely unheard of tactic I walked into it, the fist missing my skull by only a few millimeters before I had gotten close enough. Glad of my now athletic form, I sprang up, using Chopper's slightly bent leg as a prop to bring me to his level. Before he could react I had swung around his torso, clinging to his back while using both arms to put him in a chokehold. My legs, which had moved to hook about his midriff, also began to squeeze as I slowly turned the battle to my favor.

Well, in theory. I was counting more on the surprise factor of the move to knock him off kilter for the few seconds I needed to think up a better plan, considering that Chopper could easily pry me off if he really wanted to. The Yautja hissed in shock as my arms tightened more, the sound becoming slightly strangled at the end as the pressure on his windpipe and middle increased.

Ding! There we go with the idea factor!

"Come on, Chopper, you know you can get me off," I hissed venomously near the Yautja's head, increasing the pressure to almost as hard as I could squeeze as I did so.

That did it; time was up and I screeched involuntarily as Chopper gripped my leg, easily removing the limb from its constricting effort and simultaneously pulled forward, effectively ripping me from my perch with an unexpected jolt.

But the fight wasn't about to be over yet! Before he could throw me, like I was sure he was planning do, I grabbed his arm, using that as a support to twist my body in a powerful roundhouse kick that hit him right in the stomach. His iron grip on my leg weakened slightly, and I wrenched the extremity free with a lot of effort, leaping away as fast as I could and keeping on eye on the glaring Yautja. My kick may not have been powerful enough to knock him down, but I could tell that it had had some effect.

But then again, Chopper had taken the full force of a Xeno Queen's tail and hadn't shown any pain, so such a small shot didn't really matter in the big picture.

I dropped to the ground, swinging my leg around in another attempt to knock him off his feet, but Chopper retaliated by grabbing the leg in mid swing and flinging me into the air. I made a small sound of surprise as I felt myself floating in nothingness, reminding me of the several sessions of falling that I had endured in Antarctica in the course of my strange, first adventure.

I landed hard on my side, and went completely limp as I rolled to prevent any injuries. As soon as I could I sprang back up, my foot twitching with a sharp pain that threatened to turn into a liability if I fought too hard. Again, I had almost no time to react as Chopper attacked once more, his foot flying towards me as I attempted to remain standing. I gasped with both pain and shortness of breath as I dodged to the side, stopping my momentum as fast as I was able while I slid in the shifting sands before using all my strength to leap forward, succeeding in passing the Yautja and getting behind him once more.

I only had a millisecond of time, and I used it as best I could, throwing all of my weight to my side as I half leapt, half fell into the back of Chopper's knees. Somehow, all of my weight did what my feet couldn't, and the gigantic Yautja lost his balance.

Unfortunately, he happened to be falling back onto me.

"Fucking shit!" I squeaked out, not able to move fast enough to avoid being pinned under the heavy mass. I gasped as all the air was squeezed out of me, even though it was only his legs that had fallen on my back and not his torso. I wriggled frantically, managing to get out from under the limbs and rise again in a fighting position, though my leg was throbbing now and I was breathing heavily.

"Good job," Chopper rasped out, a chuckle escaping him in the form of a trilling sound. I snorted, staying in my fighting position and watching warily as the Yautja rose easily. He looked at me and nodded his head slowly, "That is enough training for today, Jess."

"Fine with me," I replied gratefully, standing straight and flexing the muscles in my back as I tried to ignore my foot. It would heal in time, the throw had just wrenched it out of shape and it would be sore for a few days, but that was all.

I looked around, becoming aware of more than the immediate surroundings for the first time since the exercise had begun. Several faces looked back at me from the far wall, and I sheepishly realized that we had had an audience. How long they had been there I had no idea, but I recognized many of them, including Lex, Scar, Celtic, and, most surprisingly, the Yautja elder. It made me wonder if this training session had been special in some way, or if the leader of this ship and its clan had just been curious about the 'ooman's' improving combat skills.

Improving, indeed. This had been the first time I had done more than score a lucky hit on Chopper, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride because of that fact. After so long, my training was finally beginning to pay off! But still, why did the other Yautja here seem to find it so interesting? It wasn't as if they couldn't have stood in at other training sessions or anything.

"Okay, give," I said, looking up at Chopper, "What's going on?"

He looked down at me, mandibles twitching sporadically in something that I had learned was nervousness mixed with pride.

"The elder wished to see how much you had improved in your training, Jes'ca," he said, his tone hushed enough so that we could not be overheard by the rapidly speaking Yautja by the wall. Many of the faces I recognized as being those that had violently repelled the idea of humans living on the ship, and suddenly I began to understand. This fight had been a type of test, engineered to show the other Yautja the worth of the human warriors that had come to live among them. I saw a varied range of emotions in those faces; many seemed to be shocked, and many looked angry or irritated.

Celtic and Scar flanked Lex protectively in the face of this discussion, keeping to the rear of the crowd to avoid notice. That was a smart move, considering that some of the more angered individuals were glaring at the woman with malice. In the face of this, Lex stood clam, her dark brown eyes glaring into those Yautja that tried to stare her down before being warned away by threatening growls from Scar. Heh, he had healed really well within the past month, considering that he had had a Xeno burst from his insides, and now only a thin pale line showed where he had been stitched up from the incident.

He would always have a slightly weak spot in his rib cage, but that was better than being dead.

"I hope I did okay," I whispered to myself.

"You did very well," Chopper replied. I cursed at myself for forgetting the amazing hearing powers of the other race, "I did not have to hold back this time."

"You didn't hold back?" That was surprising. I had thought he was holding back throughout every training session we had had.

"I have been steadily increasing the difficulty of the training, Jes'ca. You have not seemed to be improving because the work was getting harder at the same rate you were advancing."

Oh, well _shit_. No wonder I had seemed like I was never getting ahead in combat training!

"Awesome," I muttered dryly, wondering if maybe I could get out of this situation somehow. It was getting a little disconcerting to be stared at, gestured at, and talked about as if I was some showcase freak on exhibit. Chopper being there helped a bit, but I still didn't fell like staying around for much longer.

The Yautja seemed to be able to read my mind, or perhaps I was twitching as I tried to keep relaxed, because he spoke.

"You are prepared, Jess," He said reassuringly, "If one of them chooses to speak with you, use what Celtic has taught you about formalities. I trust you were listening?"

"Yeah, sure…"

There was no more time to talk as the Yautja elder silenced the entire discussion going on near the wall with a single, loud bark of command. All those present turned to him, faces masked into a semblance of attentive listening, even though I was certain many of them had other thoughts that were occupying their minds at the moment. The elder rumbled slightly, adjusting the billowing cape on his shoulders before deigning to speak.

I was just on the verge of giving him the nickname Drama, I _really_ was.

"Here is what you had all been clamoring to see," he said, his voice rough but the words clear and commanding attention from even the most agitated of the other Yautja, "These humans has been the object of much of the unrest in the clan, having upset the normal balance of our society by living not as prey, but as warriors of the hunt. You're first objections were that they were not trained, not knowledgeable in the arts or language of our race. Once that was done, you spoke ill of their abilities, their weak 'ooman' strength. Now you see before you the obvious proof that that statement is false. What say you now? Will you find another excuse not to accept these humans, or will you do the honorable thing?"

There was a silent muttering within the group, and then someone, I didn't see who, spoke out.

"Respected elder, how can we be certain that Dei-shui wasn't holding back when he fought that ooman? We all know that he harbors a fondness for them!" snarled the individual, and I saw a clawed hand gesture to me angrily.

_Gee, I feel loved_, I mused to myself sarcastically.

"Setg'-in Nihkou'te, you are being a fool. I made certain long before that this fight would not be staged," replied the elder calmly, addressing the wayward Yautja by name, "Dei-shui gave me his word of honor before the battle that he would not hold back because of the human."

_Nice to know_, I thought dryly, feeling more and more that I just didn't want to be here at the moment. Things were getting a bit too much around here. I felt my agitation rising to dangerous levels as the argument burst out into several different voices at once, and I grit my teeth together hard. I had to accept that I wasn't on Earth anymore, and that though I was starting to have very murderous thoughts at the moment, blowing up or being snappish could easily get me challenged or killed. I had to keep calm. Very, very calm…

"I almost wish a Xeno would come in here just to break this argument," I whispered to myself in a voice so low that I doubted anyone but Chopper could have even detected it. By his sudden flinch, though, I saw that he had indeed heard my comment, "What?"

"Nothing, Jes'ca, I wa-"

He would have said more, but at that moment the elder chose to address us, and our attention snapped to the tall, cloaked figure that gestured for us to come forward.

_Trepidation city if I ever saw it_, I thought to myself as I made my way forward, running my tongue over my teeth as I tried very hard not to automatically lash out at those Yautja who twitched as I passed them. They were trying to get me to do something, I knew. Radicals like them always did.

But perhaps, just perhaps, what I said could make them see a more open viewpoint on things.

_Just don't piss them off, 'kay?_ I told myself sternly.

* * *

_Gods, I know I will (shakes head)._


	3. Strange Life

_Heeeey!_

_Butterflydragon: Great to see ya back and reviewing! Hehe, glad you like!  
__TGBBF: Yup, sarcasm is my speciality XD Here tis the next chappy for 'oo_

_Ranma Hibiki: Lay off the strange foods, man o.O Although entertaining, I found myself going cross-eyes when I tried to read your review XD Though I surprisingly could undertsand it perfectly XD_

_Bsdiaster: Ah, you took classes for stuff like that? Awesome! Melodramtic stuff is always funny when sarcasm is involved!  
__DarkXeno: XD Hehehehehehehe._

_Raptorchick: Okay, okay, first thing, I don't think anyone knows what Chopper's real name is. I just made that one up as a variation of dai-shui, a different word I got off a site.  
No, I haven't read any Jhonen Vasquez stuff, but I have been valiantly attempting to get the first season of Invader Zim becuase I am seriously rabid for want of watching it. Gah, having to wait one more week makes me angry... Bllllarrrrrg!_

_Okay, chapter now..._

* * *

I stood before the elder, head lowered slightly to show my respect and submission to the powerful entity. He rumbled slightly as I kneeled before him formally, and then rose when he gave a small bark of command. Now, I supposedly was allowed to speak to him… if I remembered Yautja protocol correctly, that is.

"What do you wish of me, respected elder?" I asked in formal Yautja, only having some difficulty with the slightly different variation of the language.

"Jes'ca, tell them what they need to hear," he said mysteriously. I cursed under my breath in my own language and turned to face the others, the comforting presence of Chopper standing just a few feet to my left and Lex smiling encouragement at me from the wall to my right. I took a deep, claming breath, trying to sort out the words in my mind.

I had never been good at public speaking…

"Yautja," I began. _So far so good… I think_, "I have worked had this past month to show my worth to you and others of your race, to show that I belonged here. When I had first come upon the trial under the ice, I had been afraid, elated, untried… I prevailed somehow, along with members of your race and one of my own. I wish only to know why you refuse to accept me, as you have accepted those of your own race without trouble. What is so different about us that makes you so unwilling to think of us as hunters?"

Hey, that was pretty good. Thank the gods for my philosophical writing skills; otherwise I would have botched it _so_ bad…

"It is because you are weak ooman prey!" snarled another individual, "You can never be as good as us, and you think to make yourself Yautja!"

That last sentence was practically spat out, as if it were disgusting to contemplate. I bristled and decided right then and there that these 'warriors' didn't really deserve my respect after all.

"I never wanted to _be_ Yautja!" I barked out angrily, feeling my eyes turn to that intense look of fury that even I was afraid of, "Sure, I love your way of life, but that's just asking too much. All I ever wanted as to be a warrior, and now you refuse me even that? Hell, I'd fight the Xeno's again if I could!"

Instant silence came over the room. Not even the occasional grumbles of small side conversations could be heard in the hush. I looked around confusedly.

_What'd I say?_

"Would you, Jes'ca?" the elder asked softly. I turned to look at him, and suddenly I realized that every time I had ever mentioned the Xeno's, those on the ship would go strangely quiet, as if there was a secret that I didn't need to know. A secret…

"You have some here, don't you?" I breathed, amazed and a bit disgruntled. So _that_ was what they had been hiding? The elder nodded slowly as I looked back at him

Well, this would turn out to be an interesting evening, after all…

"How many?" I asked.

"Three," it was Chopper who answered me this time, "Two drones and a Praetorian."

I hesitated only slightly; the thought of facing those nightmare creatures once again sent shivers down my spine, but I wasn't exactly afraid. I _wanted_ to hurt something right now, and what better to displace my anger on than one of those challenging creatures? If fighting them would help me prove myself to these undeserving assholes in the process, why not?

"Send one in," I said casually, "I'll take it on."

There was a ripple of Yautja laughter across the 'audience'. I glared at them indignantly; what were they thinking, laughing at me?

"Elder," one called, "You cannot seriously consider allowing these weak oomans a battle with the Hard Meat on board? It would be pointless slaughter!"

_On whose side?_ I couldn't help but wonder, _mine or the Xeno's?_

"If they wish to battle, then they may," said the elder with a stern glare in the direction of the dissonant party, "It is their choice."

_They?_

"Wait just a second!" I interrupted, "I never said Lex was going to fight, too!"

"Don't worry, Jess," she called in our own language, stepping out from the protective presence of Scar and Celtic, "I'm behind you on this. I just hope they let us have our weapons…"

I nodded and turned my attention back to the elder, who had begun speaking.

"This conflict is about the both of you, and you must both fight on this battle if you both wish to be accepted," he told me sternly, "You may go prepare in your quarters. Bring what you think you'll need, and no more."

"Gotcha," I said, turning away to face Lex, who had come up to stand beside me. I gave the woman a cheeky wink, "Hey Lex, what do you say we make things a little more interesting while we're at it?"

"How?" she asked, curious as we began to walk towards the door, all too aware of the dozen or more pairs of eyes watching out exit.

"You're pretty confident in you're training, right?"

"Yes…" she didn't follow, I could tell.

"How many drones do you think you could take on, seriously?"

Suddenly, she grinned, getting my point. Alone, perhaps, we could only take on one at a time, but fighting together…

"Tell them."

I smirked and looked back, flicking my hand in that strange wave I had to get the Yautja's attention. As soon as the elder looked up, I called out to them.

"You know what?" I said, "Forget bringing just one, we wanna fight 'em all!"

I turned back before they could address me, snickering as Lex pushed the button to close the door behind us as we trotted through the hall towards our room. I couldn't ignore the adrenaline pumping through me as I thought about the battle ahead. Man, I hoped I was strong enough, because this was going to be tougher than anything I'd ever done before.

Well, tougher than everything except maybe the Queen battle. I don't even think dying would be any tougher than that.

"This is insane," Lex commented as she walked beside me, "I can't believe we actually just did that! Do you have any idea how difficult this battle is going to be?"

"Difficult enough to ensure that no one disrespects us ever again," I muttered, looking around at the walls with a blank sigh. Why was it always so hard for me to find doors on this ship? I mean, Lex could manage it so easy, and I usually prided myself on how well I could find irregularities in patterns and such, but I guess having seven seasons of ice climbing behind her helped the woman with her perception ability.

I almost ran into Lex as she stopped at our door, pushing the button and slipping inside. I walked in with a long sigh, punching the panel on the opposite side to close the door as I looked around at the room. It was large, much larger than my old room had been, with a bed in each corner of the room. The funny things about the beds were that they were built for creatures commonly two feet taller than us, so were absolutely huge. The type of beds a kid who liked to jump dreamed of.

Beside each bed was a single tall 'drawer' built into the wall, containing every meager item we owned. Mine held my coat and human cloths, my armor, a few little things I had found around the ship, and the large pit of a Naxa fruit that I had thought looked a bit like a creature. At night I also put my Xeno claw necklace into it, as well, but that was all. I had little idea what Lex had put into hers, and didn't feel like invading her privacy by asking.

Of course, the trophy wall took up pretty much the whole of the remaining clear wall, though it was currently painfully empty. If Lex and I were able to pull off the battle coming up, we would have yet another thing to be proud of, too. A few nice skulls would be great to put up on that wall, especially if they were the ones that gained us respect enough to live here comfortably.

The weapons we owned were put on the wall beside the trophy case, and I pulled out my spear, the one that had been given to me by none other than Chopper on my first adventure, and pressed the button on the side that caused it to extend to its full length. The sound it made while doing this was one that I loved, and I smiled as I inspected it for damage or dull points. There was none, for I kept very good care of my most prized weapon, and I sent it back into compact form. Lex was tending to her own spear, finishing the sharpening and waxing job with quick ease before working on her newest weapon, a short yet ornate dagger that had been given to her by Scar after she had recovered from her badly lost battle with a renegade warrior. The older woman had learned much from that battle, and it reflected strongly in her strategic approach to any training fight and her incredible ability to predict an opponents moves.

Yeah, I was glad she would be fighting with me. I knew that without her, I would never be able to survive fighting three Xeno's at a time, especially not after just recently training. I was only human, after all.

_'Only human'_, my mind spat at me, _that's just what they want you to think!_

I made my way over to my drawer, opening it and bringing out a few pieces of armor that were used for real battles instead of casual training or skirmishes. With distracted movements I clipped them on the armor I already wore, considering what was about to happen. Almost longingly I looked at the wrist computer in the back of the drawer, but refrained myself from adding it to my attire. I refused to use the wristblades of the Yautja in this battle. They wanted to see what a human could do? Well, I would show them how I had fought before, when I had been the untrained teenager from reality thrust into a situation far out of her control.

"You ready?" Lex asked from the door, already in her own complete armor. I looked up at her, and noticed that she had chosen not to use the wrist computer, either. In fact, we were both using as little as we could, as between us we had exactly three weapons… well, four if anyone counted my nails, but it wasn't as if I could use them against the corrosive blood of the Xeno's.

"As ready as I'm ever gonna be," I replied, sighing before I gathered myself together and looked up with a crooked smile, "So let's get going!"

She smirked and opened the door, and I followed her as she traveled through the empty hall, feet passing through the fading yellow mist and sandals making hollow clicking sounds against the floor. For once, I was paying attention as I walked, and I didn't miss the door to the training room. With some trepidation, Lex punched the button, and we both went through, spears held loosely at our sides.

The others were waiting in much the same places as they had been earlier, except that Chopper had gone to join the other two of our friends and the elder was having a discussion with one of the larger warriors. At the sound of our entrance they all looked up, seeming a bit surprised by our sparse weaponry and confident appearance. There were no others in the room, and certainly no Xeno's were there yet.

Hell, I didn't even know how these people transported those things, anyway.

"Jes'ca, A-lex'a," the elder said respectfully, nodding his head towards the pit, "You have come back sooner than expected. Take your places in the training pit."

"Yes, respected elder," I answered, bowing my head deeply before making my way over to the familiar sandy area that was the pit. There was a sound that seemed a bit like my spear extending as thick bars came down from the ceiling and cut off the area that the Yautja were in, making them completely safe in their little 'cage'. The door was on their side, too, so there was truly no escaping this battle. I felt myself begin to grow nervous, but quashed it sternly.

_Don't you dare go getting squeamish about this now_, I hissed at myself, _It was your brilliant idea to get into this mess!_

"Well, let's roll," I said, pressing the button on my spear to open the weapon to its full length. Lex grinned and did the same, her expression set in a mix between terror and elation. I knew that look well, as I had seen it and worn it often since my adventure began.

Suddenly, the wall to our left began to open slightly, and I heard a venomous hiss from behind that thick slab of metal, followed by furious scrabbling and the crash of impact. I took a crouching stance, seeing Lex do the same out of the corner of my eye, and waited for the three nightmares to burst out of their cage. It was only a matter of time before we were tested yet again, before we truly proved our worth before the watchful eyes of the hunters.

_And to think, if people had asked me a month ago what I thought I'd be doing now, I would have said something along the lines of surfing the internet_, I thought with an amused snort, feeling a challenging smile tug at my lips as another clawed hand scrabbled at the dirt just under the rising doors, _What a strange life I lead_.

* * *

_Strange indeed._


	4. Not Again

_Short but action-packed chapter. You guys are gonna hate me at the end, I know you will XD_

_TGBBF: Hehehe. Do a dance, huh? Fun, but I detest dancing... (shivers) Glad you think the cliffhanger was well-placed XD when it makes people angry, it is a good cliffie in my book._

_Ranma Hibiki: I'm actually thinking about putting a Yautja kitchen scene somewhere in the story later, just to show some strange foods. XD Politics suck, but sarcasm lightens it up, some! But with how fast these things are, do you really think I'd have time to talk? Especially with three of 'em?  
__Bsdisaster: yup, so it is XD_

_DarkXeno: Limbs... AHHH, They're GONE! (runs around like a headless chicken) oh, wait, i'm typing, so i must have arms... XP Yes, I know I am inasane and all that good stuff._

_Raptorchick: oh, you guys know I try to keep the chapters coming at one a day, or one every two days, so don't be so impatient. Even though the next one might be later in coming, since I wanna get ahead on later chapters before I post it, and it still needs to go though extensive review and editing before being put up...  
Okay, anyway, thanks for the brave/stupid comment! XD Yes, thank you very much. Knowing me (being me), I do get in over my head a lot. Usually for stupid reasons... oh, and you found the fruit funny, too? Heh, that's neat. Strange, the things I write that people find amusing without my knowledge...  
Your sister is reading this, too? Wow, I have other readers out there! Awesome! Remember, reviews make me happy and I answer everybody, no matter what they say! plus, I don't write withoput 'em! (blatent hint)_

_Updattee!_

* * *

It was as if a dam had burst its restraints.

The three creatures exploded from the considerably dented and scratched metal containment area with hisses and screeches of fury, the two smaller, darker creatures flanking out to the sides of the largest Xeno I had seen since I had fought the Queen. I heard my own gasp of surprise as I backed up slightly, spear held out before me as I watched the three perform a type of pincer movement with cat-like grace. Only now did I realize exactly how foolish my decision had been to include the Praetorian on our little battle for acceptance, as the thing that approached us through the flying sands was a spectacle of horror that I had not seen in anything but nightmares since my first day of this life.

I could tell instantly that it wasn't like the others, as it slowed before reaching us, regarding the two humans with its eyeless, crested head that was both like and unlike that of the Queen I had seen on the ice, as if was much shorter. The two drones immediately leapt to the attack without wasting even a second thought, screeching as they streamed towards their prey, and I had no more time to concentrate on the largest creature as I evaded a blow from the smallest, most agile of the three. Instantly after it passed, the tail whipped up, connecting with my legs and tripping me. I went down hard, but not without swinging the spear in a wide arc, feeling the metal glance harshly off the armored side of the creature.

It hissed in protest, and a thin line of green appeared on the side of its torso where the point of the weapon had dug in slightly. Taking this slight distraction into account, I leapt to my feet and swung around, catching the tail of the creature in my grip as it tried to whip at my legs again and grunting with effort as I whirled around, using the momentum of my movement to help me lift the creature into the air and then throw it into the sand a few dozen feet away. Before it could recover, I ran forward, plunging my spear into the middle of its tail. The severed extremity twitched and splattered a torrent of acidic blood, and I was forced to move away, looking all around me for signs of another attack.

There was no other attack. The Praetorian seemed to be watching passively, waiting to see if it would be needed in this fight and gathering the measure of the two humans' fighting abilities as it emitted a steady, menacing growl. Lex was busy with her own opponent, dodging and giving attacks in a deadly ballet that was interesting, but I was in no position to stick around and watch.

The drone screamed as it gathered its legs and struck, feinting away at the last second and managing to score a glancing blow on my leg as I scrambled backwards through the dust. I grit my teeth as a sharp pain erupted from my calf, and I could feel the warm trickle of blood seeping from the wound. Without warning I was attacked from behind, knocked forward to land hard in the warm sand, the weight of the Xeno keeping me down.

"Goddam stupid fucking drone!" I snarled, the spear in my right hand gleaming sharply as I flexed my fingers on the handle and twisted around with a quick, powerful movement. My arm swung upwards, the spear perfectly situated to slam through the thick armor and into the drone's chest cavity.

I continued my roll as the anguished scream of the creature rang out, using its impaled body as a prop to propel me into the air. As I flew backward, I ripped my now bloody spear from the body, cursing again as a few droplets of blood flew and landed on my armor. Luckily, it wasn't enough to make me have to take the affected plates off, and I spun around, seeing Lex still busy with her own opponent and the drone I had been fighting lying in the scorched sand, twitching slightly as it began to die.

But the Praetorian was nowhere to be found…

_Oh, that ain't good…_

Suddenly, there was a black blur from my left, and I was slammed into with the force of a thousand kicks. I gasped as I was sent flying through the air, smashing painfully into the bars that separated me from the Yautja observers. Before I could fall to the ground, though, I managed to get a grip on the metal, climbing up another few feet as I watched the Praetorian below hiss in anger, mouth spread wide and tail lashing as it looked up at me before it was in the air.

_Gee, this seems a bit too familiar for my liking…_

I leapt to the side, legs and arms wrenching horribly from the effort to propel myself sideways from such a strange perch, and the creature's head crashed into the bars at my side. With an angry growl I lashed out with my spear, managing to score a fairly effective blow to the neck that made the large, horrifying beast screech in anger before I lost my grip and fell to the floor below. I landed with a sharp intake of breath, my hair flying around me as I quickly glanced back to find that the Praetorian was already leaping at me, the blood spraying out of the gash in its neck preceding it in a promise of burning agony.

"Oh, no you don't!" I screamed, rolling out of the way just before a spurt of sand flew up beside me from the crushing impact of the incredibly heavy and powerful creature. I smirked slightly as I realized that this Xeno was a lot slower than the others had been. Perhaps that could be used to my advantage?

I scrambled backwards as the ebony form of the second drone was slammed into the bars to my left, seeing green and red blood fly as Lex grappled with the flailing creature. Through the dust I could see the stump of what used to be a tail, and the bloody flash of weapons as my friend carved up the creature with the precision of a sushi cook. There was a horrible scream, and Lex jumped away, ornate dagger returning to her belt as the guts of the drone spewed forth onto the sand of the arena.

"Jess, watch it!" she yelled, and I turned just in time to see the claw of the giant Praetorian flying at me from the sandy shroud that had been kicked up. I swung my spear forward, feeling the end connect with the claw first, and the pained scream of the Xeno rang out before I was flung into the bars, the spear ripped from my hands before I could tighten my grip.

"Fucking dammit!" I yelled, grimacing as I fell to the ground and crumpled, my limbs temporarily too weak to keep me up as the pain from the collision with the wall flared. Lex gave a primal war cry, distracting the largest and last of the Xenos enough to give me time to recover slightly, but without a weapon I was helpless.

_Gods, this'll be the end!_ One part of my mind screamed hysterically, _The end! THE END!_

But that was before my common sense kicked in.

_Get up, you dumbass_, I told myself, _Get up and get that spear back!_

So I forced myself to stand, feeling my legs tremble only slightly as I looked for an opening to be able to get that spear back from the claws of the Praetorian without getting myself killed in the process.

There really wasn't one I could see.

"Great, just fucking great," I growled, seeing Lex take a hit from the tail of the large Xeno and fall back. I couldn't just stand here like an idiot! I'd done more than enough of that in Antarctica to last my whole lifetime. A low snarl escaped me as I charged forward, but that eyeless head snapped up from where it had been watching Lex, locking onto me with a disturbing familiarity. I had seen that before, long ago, and there was a silent promise in that gaze that the creature wouldn't let me survive this time.

_Death has many faces_.

Suddenly, both our attentions were distracted by something to the right, and I looked over with growing awe and dread as a chill draft blew across the closed area, ruffling my barred hair. The entire room was plunged into darkness, even despite the orange lights above that were still trying to shine brightly, and the only perceivable light came from that small, glowing orb that drifted about four feet off the ground. I could see the astonished faces of the Yautja illuminated by that green and purple glow, and the smooth sheen of the Praetorian's exoskeleton. Everything else was lost in the darkness that engulfed the room.

"No… no, oh, no…" I whispered, backing away.

There was an enraged scream as the crested Xeno disregarded the light and charged, the thick armor on its body turned into a work of art due to the drastic and beautiful colors of shadows and highlights caused by the bright orb that was gently floating towards me. I yelped and leapt out of the way in the only direction I could, towards the light, and managed to avoid touching it by only the narrowest of margins. Abruptly, though, it changed direction and sped towards me, and I found myself backed up against the cold metal bars, preventing my escape.

"NO!" I screamed.

"Jess!" I heard several voices yell over the sound of my own screams, and I reached desperately back through the bars, eyes widening as I saw the orb touch me and the light grow into an engulfing monster that was both beautiful and terrible just as the silver, shining teeth of the Praetorian came into sight. The crested creature was flying through the clear air with maw agape and saliva dripping from those wicked jaws. With a snap the second maw shot out towards me, and I stared blankly into the terrifying visage of those lethal teeth just as I felt something brush my hand. Without warning the ground had opened up below me and I screamed.

My gut rose to my throat, choking any sound I had been making, and with an abrupt shock the light disappeared. I whimpered slightly as I curled my legs to my chest, not caring anymore that I was falling or that I had no idea where I was going. My friends were gone; my life was ruined! And I had nothing left…

_Not again…_ I thought dejectedly, _Not again…

* * *

_

Short, to the point, but hopefully entertaining. More humor will surface later, I swear!


	5. Check Please!

_Whoo, extra-long chapter for you all! More stuff that I'm sure you'll like, a bit of strange shit, and etc._

_Ranma Hibiki: Hehe, find out in this chapter! As for what kind of food Yautja have... I beleive it would be a variaty of meats, fruits, and different juices and water. If any of that would taste good with hot sauce, so be it! At least it's not as bad as me mixing popcorn with chocolate or french fries with syurp... suryup... blech, I can't spell. XD_

_TGBBF: Thank you for your kind compliments! Hehe, my mom always yells at me for being on the computer too long, too XD Victory/Happy dances? Woo hoo!  
As always, it shall be answered (dun dun dun) in this all seeing chapter of lengthy-ness!_

_Specialguy: Awww, but where would be the fun -aka, where would be the torturous reality that I'm used to-in that? (thinks about it) still, it **would** be fun to be a Yautja..._

_Bsdisaster: Don't ya just love plot-twists? Haha,I don't think the orb would send me to my already impending doom, but who knows? Thanks bunches!_

_DarkXeno: I know. But there's always hope, right? Hope is good... sometimes. But boring life is dull... Arg...  
Thankee'_

_On, on, on with the chapter!

* * *

_

_Third Person POV_

"Jess!" Lex cried again, knowing in her heart that it was already hopeless. She had seen the light before, Jessica herself had told her about the amazing trans-dimensional abilities of the strange and mysterious sphere that had somehow appeared again in the place. Why had it chosen now to take the girl away? Why did it choose to take away the happiness that Jessica had finally begun to gain?

With a jolt the darkness vanished, leaving Lex lying in the middle of an empty arena. She looked around confusedly. Where was the Praetorian that they had been fighting? The gigantic black Xeno was nowhere to be seen, and there was an eruption of clicking growls from the area that the Yautja had been watching from. With a tired sigh Lex got to her feet, rubbing her arms in a nervous gesture that she hadn't used for weeks and approaching the bars, seeing immediately that something was wrong.

The Yautja behind had all leapt back with surprise and shock when the light had appeared, and were now staring at the area that Jess had been in with expressions ranging from incredulity to blank incomprehension. They spoke to each other in low whispers, voices so fast that Lex couldn't have understood them if she had been trying. Her focus was also on the place that Jessica had disappeared at, and she reached out tentatively to the place on the bars that the girl had been holding on to, the moist imprint of the sweat-covered hand still wrapped around the bar. It hadn't evaporated because of the humidity on the ship, and for once Lex was glad of that. She sighed and touched her fingers to the bar.

"Jessica," she whispered, shaking her head slightly. The brash girl had been one of her best friends on the ship, even at her surprisingly young age. Lex had never thought that would happen, before. She had always hated having to associate with children and teenagers, part of the reason she had been able to dedicate all of her time and energy to her job, but Jessica had been different, more adult than many of the adults she had known, and with a scathing sense of humor to boot. Plus, she had been the only other human on this ship. Without her, Lex was more alone than she ever wanted to imagine.

"Lex," Lex looked up slightly at the all too familiar voice, but she looked away quickly, not wanting to really face anyone right now, "Lex, there is a problem."

"Yeah, I know, Scar," mumbled the woman; "Jess is gone…"

"Not just Jess," Lex's eyes widened at the words, and she looked up quickly, seeing two of her friends standing there, looking as distressed as she was. She spared a quick glance at the other Yautja, seeing them all there except for…

"Chopper…" she breathed, astonished.

* * *

Falling was getting boring. Very, very boring.

I was kinda scared at first, but after the first hour or so I really didn't care anymore. In fact, I put it rather well in the simple phrase 'either let me splat on the ground or give it up, already.' I mean; I was falling through utter darkness, no one to even talk to, and nothing to do.

Well, it wasn't really as if I could play cards or anything, but I was getting tired of thinking to myself. I was going nowhere except in circles, and I didn't want to sleep because I remembered my impacting entrance into the AvP world all too well. I didn't exactly fancy being asleep if and when that happened, which with my luck I knew it would.

Thank the gods for training. I would be able to land on my feet, at least.

"I wonder where I'm going this time," I whispered to myself, the words whipped away in the flying air all around. Well, the obvious answer was back to reality, but was that really the only place that orb could take me? I mean, who knows how many places there could be out there, if I had been able to transport from my world to the AvP universe? There could be hundreds -no, thousands!- of possibilities. And that was just looking at different movie-verses. I had managed to go to the one I had most wanted to go the first time, but the glowing orb was as mysterious as anything I had ever known, and I couldn't be sure of where it was transporting me. It was possible that I was traveling pretty far, this time, considering how long this was taking…

I squinted my eyes as I looked in the direction that I was fairly sure was ahead, wondering if either my eyes were playing tricks on me or the 'tunnel' below me was starting to get brighter. It seemed like there was some dark gray light illuminating the walls, but if I blinked it would fade and then reappear slightly seconds after. I sighed with the unfairness of it all, taking my arms from around my knees and stretching, as I got ready for whatever was coming. This time I doubted I would have the luxury of having a living creature break my fall.

"Yaaaaaaah!" I yelled as a sudden brightness opened up all around me. I had a split second to glimpse clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds above before I saw the ground approaching far too rapidly for my liking. It wasn't that great a distance, but gods, I didn't want to hit it…

"Oomph!"

_So much for that wish. _

I had managed to get my arms and legs under me to absorb most of the impact, but still the wind had been knocked out of me, and I lay motionless for a long moment on the thick, bristly, hay-like grass that sprouted in a thick golden field all around. It was actually pretty comfortable, feeling the warm sun on my back and the bugs' chirping resume hesitantly. I dreaded having to get up, but it had to be done, and so I struggled into a sitting position, wincing slightly as my gashed leg came into contact with the blades of grass and blinking to let my eyes adjust after being in darkness so long.

The surroundings were typical; a long, rectangle-shaped and hilly field with trees flanking all sides and a large, run-down barn standing tall in the distance. I looked around confusedly, something nagging at the back of my mind. Looking closer at the surroundings, I saw an ancient acorn tree, and behind that the remnants of a junkyard. To my far right, in the distance, was a gigantic house, one that I remembered from times in the not too distant past. My eyes squinted as I thought, mind still disoriented from the fall and the sudden change of surroundings, but suddenly it all came together in my mind with an almost audible click.

"I'm home!" I gasped, my shock forcing me to stand quickly and ignore the twinge in my leg as I tried to see more of the place, to convince myself that I really was back, and this wasn't just some dream. Somehow the thought crossed my mind that I had never before seen anything so beautiful, so peaceful… Gods, I'd had _no_ idea how much I had really missed it before…

A loud sound echoed within the clearing, and my head snapped up as two more large forms emerged from what was best described as a glowing, purplish void in the sky, one that swirled slightly as a spiral galaxy would when it opened to drop the figures down into the field no more than a dozen yards away. With a half groan, half gasp, I instantly saw the immediate threat of the largest form, for the sinuous body, large, crested head, and flailing, bone-like limbs were clearly belonging to none other than a Xeno. And not just any Xeno, either, but the Praetorian I had been fighting earlier. I didn't even pay attention to the other form as I took up a combative stance, snickering quietly as the Xeno connected with the ground face first.

_What a coincidence…_

"Payback time," I growled, suddenly recognizing the threat that the creature posed to all that I cherished in this, my own world and what I called Reality. With a swelling of grim purpose taking up my mind I ran to the fore, trying to catch the creature unawares as it was still groggy and confused after being transported.

It still had my spear embedded in it's left claw –woohoo, I happen to be lucky after all!-, and I ran as fast as I could, skidding in and almost falling on the surprisingly slippery grass before firmly gripping the gory handle and yanking the spear out of the wound, cursing profusely as more blood spurted from the gash in a waterfall of green acid. Immediately, smoke began rising from the grass, and the Praetorian rose up with a jerking movement, thrashing with all its limbs as it screamed from the sudden and unexpected pain. I barely managed to get clear of the tail in time, and I found myself tiring as I dodged another flailing strike.

Either I was still drained from the fight or there was something wrong, here. I thought traveling through dark nothing for two hours might have helped me rest up a bit!

"You know what?" I gasped as I struggled to get a shot in at the beast that had rapidly recovered from disorientation, feeling as though I was fighting the Queen once more, back on the bleak ice of Antarctica. I fell back as the creature charged forward, and suddenly tripped on the slippery grass, landing hard on the ground with a grunt. The Praetorian had pinned me before I could even react, its drooling maw opening with a slow, languid movement, almost as if it was enjoying the thought of killing me.

Ugh, the dumb fucker. Didn't even bother to knock my weapon away. _Huge_ mistake, especially since it had just managed to strike a very serious nerve.

"You annoy me," I snarled finally, giving the creature a sly smirk as the mouth opened enough to allow the second pair of jaws to rush forward. They stopped an inch in front of my face, and the Praetorian pulled back with a screech of agony. This time, however, I kept a firm grip on my spear and managed to rip it out of the middle section of the tongue, severing the second jaw completely in the process. The screaming was deafening, and the blood that was flying from the creature's mouth gave it a disturbing resemblance to a rabid dog as it reared, the severed extremity falling with a plop onto the grass beside me.

_Liked that, did'ja?_ I thought venomously, watching to see if the distracted creature would give me the opening I needed to finish the fight once and for all. I had never been one for strategy, but I knew that an all out offensive at this moment could only get me burned, _literally_. I needed a head or neck shot without the threat of serious injury. If I tried attacking anywhere else except the claws and maybe the tail, the extremely heavy armor all over the Praetorian's body would deflect my spear fairly easily. Perhaps if I had had a Yautja's strength it would've been possible, but not with a human's abilities.

I blinked in shock as a sudden flash shot past me, spinning towards the Xeno and slicing a long, thick gash in its armored side. The shruiken whistled through the air beyond easily, arcing back towards me as it returned to its caster. With a yelp of surprise I ducked, even though it was easy to see that the weapon wasn't going to hit me anyway, as it was flying in at least a foot above my head. As the Praetorian whipped around to face the attacker, I glanced back quickly, identifying my mysterious benefactor.

"Chopper, what the fuck are you _doing_ here?" I asked –well, yelled- as we both split different ways to avoid the Xeno's glinting claws and bony, powerful tail.

If he answered, I didn't hear it, because the Praetorian didn't seem to be too interested in the Yautja at the moment. It turned to me, hissing with green-tinged saliva dripping from its mouth, and leapt with amazing agility, almost pinning me to the ground once more as I skittered sideways. Suddenly, I was bowled over by a vicious backhand swing from its powerful claw, and I landed on the grass directly beside the creature with a surprised cry. The tail came up menacingly, the dagger-like point glinting in the sunlight as it drove towards me, cutting the air with an almost perceivable sound.

But then, there was suddenly nothing for it to impale me with except a stump, and it was fairly simple for me to twist away from the bloody appendage while the Xeno was distracted. With careful aim, I punched upwards from my new position right below the beast's head, aiming just below the jaw of the creature where the armor was weakest. Actually, I don't think there was any armor there at all, considering how my closed fist impacted into a slightly giving, almost rubbery surface. The Praetorian pulled back with a choking hack, reminding me of the battle I had won in Antarctica long before, and I sprang up from the grass with a movement that was _supposed_ to be graceful, swinging my spear in a wide arc.

I missed where I had been aiming, though, and only managed to score a thin, jagged line across the front of the Xeno's skull. However, my attack served to distract the Praetorian enough to give Chopper an opening, and the Yautja flicked his hand downwards, releasing the deadly shruiken blade at what was almost point blank distance. There was an instant of still as I saw the Praetorian realize the mistake it had made in focusing on me, and I saw it try to dodge, to avoid the lethal strike in some miraculous way. I grimaced as the whirling disk of metal sliced into the joining between skull and body as easily as a knife through water and then erupted out of the opposite side of the armored creature's neck in an explosion of gore.

Instantly, the body of the Xeno fell to the grass, not even twitching as the head gave a last, gurgling hiss before going completely limp. I took a long, long moment to be sure that the body wasn't going to spring to life again, as these things often did, before straightening with a deep sigh. So much for that test.

"Helping you," Chopper growled at last, answering my earlier question that I had not even realized he had heard.

"Well, thanks," I replied somewhat irritably, kicking the Xeno in its crested head as I looked all around the place. The grass was torn up all to hell, and many patches were burnt or scorched by the acid blood. Heck, the place where the carcass lay was still smoking as the blood spread out and sank into the ground. I would be hard pressed to explain this sort of thing away unless we took care of it immediately…

"Jess?" I looked up to see Chopper staring at me; head tilted in curiosity as he slowly averted his gaze to take in the surroundings. I grunted as I used my spear to separate the Praetorian's head from its body, wrinkling my nose as the ground steamed up with a new vigor when the spine was severed.

"We're in my world, Chopper," I answered the unspoken question, "Remember when I told you and the others about the orb that brought me to your world? I know you didn't really believe me, then, but now you have to, since you got caught in it, too!"

"Yes…" Well, Chopper was pretty talkative, wasn't he? I sighed and looked at him, seeing that he was in full armor, now. Surprising, since he had only been in casual gear when I had fought him, but I guess Lex and I hadn't been the only ones to change after the elder had allowed us to leave. With a small sense of relief I saw the old, familiar mask clipped onto his belt.

"Ah, good, you have your mask," I commented. Chopper snorted and set about cleaning his shruiken, using the grass to wipe the gore off the many blades of the weapon. More smoke rose into the air, and I mentally made several rude and sarcastic comments about the relationship between smoke, fire, and dumb people that would probably come to investigate, "Put it on. I don't want to have to deal with screaming, hysterical idiots later."

No, I _wasn't_ in a good mood. Would _you_ be, after being attacked a simple walking distance away from your own home? I don't think so.

"You seem annoyed."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," I snapped, instantly regretting my harsh tone as it came out of my mouth. I sighed heavily, shoulders dropping from their tense position; I hadn't wanted to yell at anybody, especially not one of my best friends, "Gods, I'm sorry, Chopper. Damn, I have _no_ idea what I'm gonna do…"

"You know much more than I do, here," Chopper said, punctuating his words with a series of reassuring clicks as he put his mask on. I almost grinned as I saw that rock star visage looking out at me once more, remembering when I had first seen it and how very entertaining I had found the mask to be. Chopper had never fully understood my amusement, "You must lead."

"No pressure, huh?" I commented dryly. Finally, I cracked a smile, though it was a weak one, at best. Contrary to what I had said earlier, I _did_ know what I needed to do, but I really wasn't looking forward to it, as it involving facing my parents. Most specifically, facing my mom.

I'm sure they hadn't appreciated me being gone a month without warning.

I shook the Praetorian head that I had severed, draining more of the blood on the grass. It probably wouldn't be drained enough to be safe for several hours, yet, but I couldn't chance it being discovered by some idiot person trespassing on our property. The body would be hard enough to dispose of! Really, all I could do for that was thank whatever powers there were that the grass was tall enough to hide most of it.

Wait, the grass was _tall_? Hadn't it been cold and snowy when I had been transported to the AvP world?

And the air was pretty warm, too! How could a month have possibly changed the weather that drastically? I looked up at the trees, surprised to see small buds of beginning leaves on the branches. In fact, it seemed as if spring was starting, and as I took a deep sniff of the air blowing past in a gentle wind I could smell the fresh scent of clear, pure nature. It was invigorating, and suddenly I began to feel better about being back, and even about seeing my mom.

It wasn't that I didn't want to see my parents again; it was just the fact that the greeting was bound to be… emotional. Blech, I _hated_ emotional stuff. Almost more than I hated being attacked by Xeno's. Really, if I had a choice, I'd say bring on the Aliens and fuck the greeting!

"Well, Chopper," I said finally, taking a deep breath to calm me, "Let's get to my house and get this over with. Don't attack anybody, even if they seem about to attack you, and for god's sake, _don't_ take off your mask. I don't think my mom would _live_ through the shock of that."

He grunted, and I sighed as I began to walk up the gradual incline of the hill that I knew was behind my house, heading towards the thin band of trees that separated the field from the carefully manicured grass of the yard. After a moment, I heard Chopper stand and begin to follow, his heavy bulk belying an amazingly silent tread. Well, I bet it was just the shock of being thrust into the strangeness of my world that had made him act as if he was on some sort of silent hunt, as the Yautja was normally a bit more talkative, but I knew for certain that before this little visit was over he would be suffering from the mother of all culture shocks.

At the muffled sound of a gasp, my head snapped up, and I felt my jaw hang slack as I looked straight into one of the most familiar and missed faces I had ever seen. We both stood motionless, each not daring to move any closer than the fifty feet that separated us. Finally, the other seemed to snap back, and I winced slightly as the harsh voice rang out.

"Jessica (_edited_)! Where in _hell_ have you been?"

_Ooh, full name_, my mind said with a grimace, _not good, Jess. Oi… check, please!

* * *

_

_(shakes head and smacks self on forehead) Ugh..._


	6. Entertaining Afternoon

_Haha, hehee, hohoo, haha! They're coming to take me away, haha!  
I am officially insane. Yes, I _know_ you guys knew that already sheesh._

_Starting up about two hours after the last chapter. Sorry, but I can't really write the greeting (looks apologetic) You know, bunches of emotional stuff and shit like that that i hate writing above all else in the world, along with crushing hugs and hysterial stuff._

_Ranma Hibiki: That is indeed the million dollar question (looks evil) and part of the point of making this sequal... watch out, I'm insane and have the power of time on my hands!  
It really tastes like maple when milk is added? Huh, whaddaya know..._

_TGBBF: Well, Jess is me, ya see? This is an SI fanfic, meaning self-insertion, meaning that I have attempted to write fantiction that includes a extremely realistic version of me that gets transported everywhere. Heh, Crazy, I know. That's why you can't know my last naaaaammmme! (sticks out tounge)  
Buger King, huh? (Looks thoughtful) What an idea... "Hello, I'd like seven double woppers, plain, and make it quick or my friend here will teach you the meaning of PAIN!"_

_Bsdisaster: Hehe, my mom is a sheltering type mom, so she gets horrible about stuff like that (hears mom yelling at her that 'I do **not**!'). _

_OtakusVengeance: Oh, but home can be fun, too. Oh, yes..._

_Butterflydragon: wow, you've been bogged down with work! Well, I hope my story can continue to provide entertainment for you XD I'm also glad that you like where it's going... (considering I don- shut **up**, Jess!)(bashes self on head)_

_Raptorchick: Ah, you return! I was waiting for jooo.  
Ahem, anyway, yup, faceplating aliens is great fun at any time of year! Plus, you have a store near you that sells alien stuff! Man, you're lucky as hell, even if it is expensive. I'd have to drive for a few hours to get to the nearest mall with stores like that...  
Nope, I'm not pagen or anything. I just don't like saying the singular version... don't know why. (shrug)

* * *

_

* * *

"Man, I am _so_ glad that that's over!" I groaned, taking a flying leap on my old bed and stretching out luxuriously as I closed my eyes. Mom had kept my room exactly how it had been before, just in case I came back. Heh, I guess this time denial worked out for me…

Mom had had a fit, really, a big, emotional, hysterical and yet loving fit. I don't think I had ever been hugged so much in my life! It had taken all the persuasion and assurance that I was fine that I had in my vocabulary to peel her off, but it had turned out okay. Plus, my leg was now bandaged in heavy gauze, and I felt hundreds of times better now that she knew where I was. Hell, she _did_ understand and believe, just like I had thought she would.

Well, it wasn't like she couldn't, considering I was wearing Yautja armor, had the severed head of an alien creature currently bleeding out on the back porch, and had been gone with no explanation for a month. Not to mention that Chopper was with me.

Thank gods she had taken that well. Like me, she had seen AvP, and the Preds were nothing new to her, even though she had never expected them to be real. But she explained everything with one phrase, really. She had told it to me over and over again in the hour or so that I had spent explaining things, and it still echoed in my head… 'Jess, I'm just glad to see you're alive.'

_Gods, I didn't ever want to worry her_, I thought sadly, feeling so… _guilty_… about the whole thing.

Why did parents always manage to do that?

I heard an inpatient grunt, and reluctantly I cracked my eyes open, glaring upwards at the distinctly uncomfortable-looking Yautja that was taking in the look of my jungle-themed room. It was pretty funny how he had to duck to be able to stand in this place, but I knew that he didn't think so and that the shoe would be on the other foot if I had to be put in the same situation he was in. Finally, I sighed, opening my eyes fully and sitting up, crossing my legs Indian-style and gesturing for Chopper to sit down on the floor.

Hey, it was clean, and it's not like there was anywhere else he could sit!

"So, Chopper, how ya holding up? Not too confused, I hope?"

"That was possibly the strangest thing I have ever seen, Jess," he commented, sitting down against the wall. He was referring to my welcome back to this world, I knew… I had no fear of my mom overhearing the conversation from wherever she was at the moment, since we were speaking in Yautja. There were more than the obvious advantages to speaking in a different language, it seemed, "Your world… this is where you lived before the chiva?"

"Home sweet home," I said with a smirk, gesturing to the room with a wide arc of my hand, "Although I spent most of my free time on the computer... In my own words the computer was my _life_. I bet you didn't know I was a writer, did'ja?"

"I didn't think you would," he said after a long pause, "I had always thought that you knew more about fighting than other humans, from how you fought during the chiva…"

"Not a chance," I laughed, "I never fought a damn thing in my life before that! I was always drawing, or writing, or thinking up new ideas _for_ my drawing and writing. Heh, you would've killed me without a second thought if you knew me back then."

"You were that different?"

Was I? Well…

"Uh, not precisely," Damn, this was going to be kinda difficult to explain, here, "I was always like _this_, but I also wasn't. You see; society doesn't exactly welcome people like me with open arms. Um… think of how your people reacted to humans becoming warriors, and then switch that around a bit and have humans reacting to another human for being a warrior. It's about the same for both; people like me just aren't accepted. So I kept it all hidden, and wrote stories that reflected what I wanted to do… to be."

He took a moment to absorb all of this, and then nodded slowly.

"It reminds me of a warrior I met once, who hated the hunt and preferred to nurture life rather than destroy things," Chopper said leisurely. I raised an eyebrow in interest; I had never heard of such things before, but then again, I didn't know all that much about Yautja life, yet, "He left when he had gained enough skulls and honor to suit him, and I never saw him again. I had thought him foolish, but perhaps his situation was like your problem with the humans?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," I said with a shrug, "It doesn't matter, though. I found where I belong, in the end."

"With the Yautja?"

"Yup," I replied with a grin. I sighed happily, and looked around my room once more, smile widening as I got an idea. Abruptly, I jumped off my bed, slipping over to my old, now fairly dusty stereo system and giving a speculative look to the Yautja that was regarding me curiously, head tilted to the side as he watched what I was doing, "Hey Chopper, have you ever listened to music before?"

"No."

I stopped, staring blankly at him, and shook my head sadly, "Gods, you're deprived. Never fear, though! _You_, my friend, are about to get one _hell_ of a taste of human teenage culture!"

With that, I stuck one of my favorite CD's into the six-disk-changer and punched the button, skipping until I found the one song that I liked the best out of all of them. Chopper was looking at me like I was going crazy or something, but that was nothing new. With a quick snicker I made my way back to the bed, grabbing the stereo's remote from the shelf inside my closet and punching the volume up to a fairly high level. Too bad I didn't have bass, but hey, I was just happy to be able to listen to my songs, again! Man, I had been going a bit stir-crazy on the Yautja ship; crazy to the point of singing the songs I could remember when no one was there and humming them when Lex was in the room.

Gods, how I missed that ship, already.

_Lost in these times  
__It's hard to make up our minds  
__This is the reason we're convicted for our crimes  
__So we wait  
__Scars on our face  
__They show the importance of finding a way to leave this place_

I felt my jaw drop open slightly as the beloved lyrics suddenly became far too close to my own situation, my hand rising to my face to touch the old scar on my right cheek, the one that I was still surprised my mom hadn't asked me about... Well, she had seen the movie, so she probably knew, anyway. I looked quickly over to Chopper, who had the pose of listening carefully to the music that was writhing through the air, filling the space around us with its haunting tune.

_This is _**way**_ too strange…_

_But then we're left with nothing substantial to hold  
__And I'm afraid that our story will never be told_

_Some people carry on  
__Some just stay right where they are  
__Our worlds divide the sight  
__I'd rather move along  
__Knowledge is not very far  
__Our worlds divide the sight_

_When innocence dies  
__It tends to shake up your life  
__Let it consume you and then leave it all behind  
__I need escape  
__From the choices we made  
__And the feelings of longing that are standing in our way_

_But then we're left with nothing substantial to hold  
__And I'm afraid that our story will never be told_

_Some people carry on  
__Some just stay right where they are  
__Our worlds divide the sight  
__I'd rather move along  
__Knowledge is not very far  
__Our worlds divide the sight_

_Don't give up on hope  
__Don't give up on hope  
__Don't give up because it's hope that binds us  
__Pain that guides us  
__Who do we trust when those things remind us  
__It's hope that guides us  
__Pain that binds us  
__Who do we trust when they're not behind us_

_Some people carry on  
__Some just stay right where they are  
__Our worlds divide the sight  
__I'd rather move along  
__Knowledge is not very far  
__Our worlds divide the sight_

_  
__Now you are right where you belong  
__Our worlds divide the sight  
__Take all this hope; it makes you strong_

Now you are right where you belong 

I opened my eyes as the last note faded, having closed them halfway through the song and settled into a pose of just listening to the tune I had almost forgotten, and clicked the button to pause the music, still overwhelmed by how much that simple song had seemed like (and yet also somewhat unlike) my situation. After a bit of hesitation, I looked over to Chopper, seeing him sitting quietly, much like he had been since we had come into the room. Nothing looked different, but after a month of living on a Yautja ship I knew that the creatures didn't show many outward signs for anything.

Amazingly, he spoke before I could.

"That was music?" he asked, seeming both curious and awestruck. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my throat.

"Oh, hell, yeah!" I answered, feeling my spirits soar to think that my best friend had actually liked the same kind of music I did, "Some of the best, in fact! But that one was just my favorite on that disk, there are _so_ many more you can listen to, if you want!"

"I would enjoy that," he said, his head angled so that he was looking right at me, "I like your music, Jess. It is… indescribable. I wish I could understand it more."

I chuckled at that. Yeah, and _he_ had been the one who understood the most of human language to begin with, besides Scar, who would probably be able to understand even the lyrics of music. No wonder they had had such a hard time trying to teach us their language, at first!

"Now I know what you were doing in the pyramid," he continued, talking more to himself than anything, but I knew I was meant to catch the comment, "Do humans create music often?"

"Geez, it's one of the biggest industries on the Earth," I replied, feeling some pride for the human race begin to swell up in me, "right up there with movies and gaming. We humans like to focus on the finer arts of imagination."

"Yautja don't have music…"

"Well, then," I said slyly, "The first thing to do when we get back will be to teach them about it, huh? I'm sure I could manage to grab my CD player before being chased by that trans-dimensional portal of an orb."

That comment managed to force a quiet trill out of him, and I winked cheekily, jumping off the bed once more and going over too look through my pitifully small collection of CDs. I was looking for a very specific title, and I knew that I had left it in that spot, so unless mom had moved it…

"Jessie! Jess, dinner's almost ready! Bring your friend here, I don't know what he eats!"

_Speaking of mom…_

"What was that?" Chopper asked curiously, looking down the hall. He must not have caught what she said.

"That's my mom announcing that food is ready," I laughed, turning from my search and gesturing for Chopper to stand. He did so, and I cracked a smile as he barely managed to remember that the ceiling was too close to stand up quite straight, "C'mon, I'm sure we can find something you'll like. Mom loves making steak and stuff, so you'll probably be okay with the food."

"Sound's appetizing."

"You know it!" I said happily, "And the best is yet to come! I heard her muttering to herself about making cupcakes later on, and I'm looking forward to teaching you how to bake…"

_If only for the comedic value_, my mind added silently, an evil smile twitching at the corners of my mouth as I bounded down the hall and towards the tantalizing scents of the kitchen_, This is bound to be a very entertaining afternoon…

* * *

_

Veeeerrrry entertaining.  
(sorry about the short chapter an' all)

Song Lyrics by: Flaw  
Yes,I do have that CD; yes it is my favorite song on that CD; no, you probably don't know it because Flaw is not as big a band as the others I've put into fics.


	7. Frosting!

_GAAAAAAAAH! NO!_

_Damn editor freaking DELETED all my lovely, lovely replies to all your lovely, lovely reviews! _

_Stupid SOB..._

_Okay, so I'm just gonna answer the question put to me by Raptorchick, about Xeno blood eating through the back proch. Really, that proch is old, sucky, and really being eaten thought would be an improvement XD Plus, if you remember a certain scene in the original Alien, Xeno blood loses its acidic potency after a while. Otherwise it wouldn't have stopped eating through the floors of the ship._

_Sorry to the rest of you that reviewed but aren't getting a reply. I hope this long chapter mollfies your firey anger at me (sniff)..._

* * *

"What's a cupcake?" Chopper asked me while we were in the process of helping mom clean off the table. I had been right about mom making steak, and the remnant of the food was currently being scraped off a plate and into the open garbage by none other than myself. Chopper was working table duty, taking silverware off the table and bringing them to the sink, where mom was currently working at washing, politely ignoring our conversation that she couldn't understand anyway. The irony of the situation was not lost on me, for where mom would usually be the one talking incessantly; it was actually Chopper and I who were now playing that role.

"A tasty, bread-like, sugary dessert on my planet," I answered easily, wondering silently where I had managed to come up with an almost technical sounding definition off the top of my head, "Often covered in a jelly-like, even more sugary substance called frosting."

"You sound like a scientist, Jess," Chopper commented with an amused snort.

"I know I do," I said. Then, as an afterthought, I added, "Shut up."

_Great, now he's laughing at me_, I thought dryly as I glared at the trilling Yautja. He still had his mask on, as we were both pretty sure that mom would be more comfortable that way –yeah, even though he had had to take it off while eating-, so I couldn't see his face, but I knew that he could see the expression on mine, and it was only adding to his amusement.

"You're damn lucky I'm too nice to throw something unpleasant at you," I muttered, glancing at some choice materials in the garbage with glittering eyes.

"Since when?"

I was just about to retort and perhaps throw something after all when mom turned around and fixed us both with 'the look'. Amazingly, it seemed to be a universal expression, as both Chopper and I immediately stopped and turned guiltily –me more guiltily than the Yautja, as I was hiding a pork bone behind my back that I had been about to chuck at the other.

"Stop arguing," she said sternly, even though the smile on her lips as she saw the barely concealed bone behind my back sorta ruined the moment. Anyway, how in hell had she _done_ that? She couldn't even _understand_ us! Eh, must be a mom thing, "Once I get this finished we have cupcakes to make, and I don't need to be cleaning up the mess of a food fight in here!"

"Fine…" I said, putting a lot of mock disappointment in my voice, "Ruin all my fun."

Mom smiled, and I saw just a touch of sadness in that expression before she turned back to the sink, scrubbing at a particularly dirty pan. With a sigh I tossed the bone back in the garbage, flipping everything else that needed to be trashed into the bag and trotting up to the sink to get some paper towels. Chopper turned, the last of the dishes held in his claws, and set them on the counter. With a snort I realized that I was pretty much trapped between my mom and the Yautja, and I remembered also that this kitchen was far too small for three people working.

"Comin' though," I said quickly, slipping my way through the small gap that was left to me with an ease that could only be learned in the crowded halls of school, and I immediately began cleaning off the tabletop. Who in the world would've thought cleaning up the kitchen could become so fun? I mean; I was actually enjoying myself, for once!

I finished quickly, and seeing that nothing else needed to be done until mom finished the dishes, I began to sit down. But with a sigh I pushed the chair back in before I could be tempted, going over to help rinse the silverware that was the last thing my mom always did, since she hated cleaning them. Chopper stood over us, watching curiously as we finished.

"Okay, cupcake time!" I said cheerily as I threw the last fork into the drainer, skipping expertly over to the cupboard and swinging it open, taking out the mix that I knew my mom couldn't reach without a chair to stand on and tossing them to her. She caught them fairly easily, and reached up to get out the mixing bowls and measuring cups while I dashed around to grab the other materials. Chopper moved towards the middle of the curved counter after being almost run into for the third time, the only place where he wouldn't be in the way of the rapidly moving humans. I stifled a snicker as I finished gathering the materials and swung the fridge door open, grabbing the egg cartons and setting them on the stovetop.

"Does he know about cupcakes?" mom asked me quietly. I snorted and shook my head.

"Only what I've told 'em," I replied, smiling evilly, "I look forward to teaching the fine art of baking!"

"Jessie…" Damn, she looked doubtful. Time to quash any resistance!

"C'mon, mom!" I whined, "You said yourself that boxed cupcakes are almost impossible to mess up! How bad could it be?"

She sighed.

"Fine," she said heavily, stopping my cheer with a firm yet humored glare, "But if you make a mess, _you_ are cleaning it up yourself!"

"Deal," I said cheerily, thinking silently to myself. _If we mess it up, the entertainment will be more than worth it!_

"Chopper," I called, seeing the Yautja perk up as he was called in. I gestured for him to stand close, so that he could watch what I was doing. _Cue crappy announcer's voice_, "Okay, Chopper, welcome to the wonderful world of baking. Today, we will be attempting the most easily messed up of all baking endeavors, the dreaded yet tasty cupcake! Watch carefully, because if you want to, you'll be attempting this yourself for the second batch!"

There was a long, silent pause.

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Sarcasm becomes me," I replied dryly, measuring out the oil that I had gotten from the cupboard in a small, one-third-cup measuring cup. I made sure to remain in Chopper's line of sight –as if it was hard not to- as I pitched it into the mixing bowl, measuring out water in the same way with the half-cup measuring cup. Despite my abysmal talents, Chopper actually seemed to be watching and perhaps even learning. Good.

Now, it was time for the eggs.

"Eggs are my favorite part," I said, bringing out the three oblong, white objects and carefully cracking them against the counter, "Fragile, and they taste horrible raw, but with the right temperature and a bit of skill…"

_Yeah, skill. Exactly what I _don't_ have!_

The yolks of the three eggs plopped into the ingredients, and I opened the first box of mix, taking out the bag inside and cutting it across the top with some scissors that my mom had put on the counter. Actually, now that I thought of my mom, I looked up to where she had been sitting and preparing the cupcake trays only to find that the work was done and she wasn't in the room.

After my initial moment of alarm, I glanced in the living room and saw her sitting there, reading a book and snickering quietly to herself. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion; mom hated to give me complete control over any form of baking (considering that I almost always failed horribly), but she seemed pretty content to leave me to teach, now. Hmm… must be because she had finally accepted that I could do this myself…

Or there was some other mysterious reason…

_Dammit._

Chopper stared into the bowl, and I could almost see that eyebrow rising as he looked at me with a curious and amused clatter, "Jes'ca, it doesn't seem like this is the tasty, bread-like substance you described…"

"That's because it isn't finished, you smartass," I chided, smacking him lightly on the arm with the back of my hand as I rummaged in the cupboards for what I needed. It was pretty easy to find, and I brought the appliance out with a flourish, smiling widely as I pulled the cord to me and plugged it in. Chopper made an inquisitive sound as I clipped in the pieces to it.

"That looks strange," he commented. I smirked.

"Meet the mixer!" I said grandly, pressing the button on the top. The appliance whirred to life, the spinning projections becoming a blur. I clicked it off after a few seconds, however, smiling up at the slightly surprised Yautja before setting the projections into the mix and clicking the button back on. Instantly the haphazard mix became a swirl of gooey liquid, slowly turning into batter as I carefully blended the stuff, "It whirls, it twirls, and it makes baking into a fun opportunity to splatter your friends!"

"You are enjoying this entirely too much, Jess."

"Yes, yes I am," I replied.

Man, this was fun! In fact, though I _did_ like baking, I had never really found it as enjoyable before. Now, though, when I had a friend to try it with me –a friend that probably didn't know about my horrible baking skills- I found that it was almost as fun as playing a new video game, which was pretty damn fun. For once, I wasn't thinking about being stuck in reality, as I had been even before I had gone on my first adventure.

Three minutes passed, and I clicked the mixer off, taking out the projections and using a spatula that had been on the counter next to the scissors to scrape off the extra batter that was clinging to them. The batter was starting to smell good, and it was only previous experience that kept me from licking my fingers off afterwards. It may have smelled good, but I knew that it would taste horrible! With a snort I picked up the mixing bowl and whirled over to the table, setting the two mixing parts on a paper towel by the sink on my way. Chopper followed me, watching curiously as I poured the batter into a single cupcake holder, about halfway up the little paper form.

"See, that's how much needs to go in each holder," I said as I did so, using the spatula to scrape off the dripping lip of the bowl. I looked up at the Yautja, "Do you wanna try it?"

"Sure," Chopper answered. I handed him the bowl, and watched as he poured the batter carefully into one of the holders. He poured it so carefully, in fact, that I had to pretend to sneeze to keep from flat out laughing at him.

_Hey, careful is better than batter all over the table,_ I told myself as I prepared the cups of oil and water for the next batch.

After I was done with that, I sat down at the table and moved the trays of cupcake holders as Chopper poured the batter, always keeping a new one ready for when he finished with the current one and taking the filled one to put on the stovetop. We managed to get three trays out of the mix that I'd made, and as I was reading the baking instructions on the box my mom's voice floated in from the living room.

"I already turned the oven on, Jess. Just stick the trays in!"

"Thanks, mom!" I called back, taking a few thick potholders out of a drawer and shuddering as I opened the oven door, gesturing for Chopper to stay back as I slipped the trays in hesitantly, hating the feeling of the heat wafting from the device. Gods, I had been twitchy around stoves and other hot things ever since I had been about five and had burned myself on a lantern that was about to fall on the ground. I had come away with three blistered fingers from that accident, and it had taken weeks to heal completely.

_Might be the reason you're so bad at baking_, I told myself, _When you're afraid of the oven, it can be a little difficult to get anything cooked._

"Is that dangerous?" Chopper asked after I had closed the door. Obviously, he had noticed my trepidation. I shrugged listlessly before I answered.

"Not really, I just have a thing about ovens."

"Ah," he said as I turned to set the timer. I looked back, finding with slight surprise that the Yautja was standing by the mixing bowl, looking at the box curiously. He lifted his head from the writing and glanced at me, "Is it time to make the next batch?"

"Yeah," I said, moving over to look at the materials, making sure they were all there, "Go ahead, if you want to. I think you grasped what I was doing, and the oil and water are already measured, so have fun."

He snorted, and began working, putting in the oil and water easily. When it came to the eggs, though, he had a little more trouble, as he seemed to not get that eggs were _fragile_ and must not be slammed into the edge of the counter. But after the second one was destroyed –and after I had stopped smacking my head into the wall and muttering- he got the message, and managed to crack it without breaking it. I practically cheered when he split it over the bowl, successfully adding one egg to the mix.

_Now for the other two_, I thought with humor.

Actually, the other two eggs were easy, and though we had to pick out some small pieces of eggshell that had been accidentally crushed into the mix, they turned out all right. We added the cupcake mix, and after that was done I smirked and handed him the reassembled mixer, grimacing inwardly as I showed him how to turn it on. He did so, making a clicking sound that I couldn't decipher, and before I could stop him he plunged the whirling projections right into the mixing bowl.

POOF!

Instantly, a big explosion of the powdery mix that was on top of the other ingredients flew into the air, covering both Chopper and me in a fine, sugary smelling dust. I snorted as I looked up at the considerable paler and shocked Yautja, putting my hand over my mouth to try and stop myself, but in the next instant I could no longer hold my laughter in. I grabbed the counter desperately to stop myself from falling onto the floor, my body wracked by choking breaths as I tried to gulp air between bouts of mirth. I didn't even care that I probably looked like an idiot, covered in cupcake mix as well.

It was a while before I could regain control of myself, and I straightened, gasping and still giggling in sporadic bursts. Chopper was trilling loudly, laughing as he finished mixing the batter. I was surprised that he had been able to keep a hold of the mixer's handle, considering that we had both been almost doubled up in the hilarity of it all. In fact, I could hear mom laughing from the next room, as well. When I looked, I saw that she had put her book down, and she was laughing so hard that tears were streaming out of her eyes.

Hell, it had been a long, long time since any of us had laughed that hard.

"Gods, that was funny as hell!" I exclaimed, staggering over to the table and sliding a tray towards Chopper, who began pouring the cupcakes as he chuckled. Actually, I was pretty glad that he had been able to find the humor in the situation, because the last thing I needed was to be laughing at a pissed off Yautja.

"This little incident stays in this dimension, right?"

"It'll be all over the ship by the end of the first day we get back."

"I guessed as much."

Suddenly, there was a loud ring, and I groaned as I recognized the sound as the timer for the oven going off. I slipped on the potholders quickly and moved to open the door to the oven, grimacing as I did so, and saw that the pastries were done. Almost _well done_, in fact. I pulled them out quickly, setting them on the top of the stove and shutting the door to the oven with a loud bang. After that was done, I turned to the table, seeing Chopper finish off pouring the last cupcake of the second batch, and moved the filled trays over as I dumped the finished cupcakes out onto the table to prevent them from burning.

Now I had to put the second batch in. It was easy now, considering I still had the potholders on my hands, and I slipped the trays in without a second thought, closing the door and setting the timer anew. Chopper was staring at the steaming cupcakes curiously, head tilted as he reached out to take one.

"They might be hot, so be careful," I told him, taking the frosting out of the fridge and smirking as I heard him hiss in surprise. I peeked my head over the door, "I told ya, man. Listen next time."

He glowered, and I chuckled slightly as I set the frosting down on the table, a victorious gleam in my eye.

"Now for one of the most loved parts of making cupcakes!" I announced brightly, bringing out a pair of butter knifes and tossing one to Chopper, who caught it easily, "Frosting!"

* * *

_(squeals) Frosting! I LOVE frosting!_


	8. I'd Better Be Getting A Full Explanation

_Hello (waves meekly)  
This'll be the last chapter for a while, seeing as I have a really, really twisted idea for a short fic that I wanna write, and I don't feel as much like writing as drawing lately (yeah, you can see that fact in the evidence, considering I'm surrounded by various mountains ofsketches right now...)_

_But this only has about four more chapters to go, anyway, so after the fact, it should be finished soon, and I'll get working on the third and final installation of this line of stories.  
Just to warn you, the third one will be a completely different kind of crossover, and Jess'll probably be the only character that'll be mentioned past the first few chapters from the old ones. I didn't plan it that way, but the storyline would be insanely difficult if it didn't happen solo (plus the fact that I happen to find it difficult to write more than one or two characters, as seen in the partial degrading of this fic)  
I bet you'll never guess the crossover in a million years, either. It's THAT crazy (laughs manically) Hahahaha! DOOM on all of you! DOOOOOM!_

_In the interest of getting this out as fast as possible, review replies will be short:_

_TGBBF: You get to see the answers to all your glorious questionsnow!  
You clean? Me cleaning is... rare.  
(glomps)_

_Butterflydragon: Okay, okay... here it is (puppy eyes)  
NINE! Nine cookies out of a three dozen batch? Man, your family is crazy! Like mine! COOL! _

_Bsdisaster: O.o  
Ranma Hibiki: oh, but you know it will indeed be all over the ship. Jess never lies unless it's fun to do so XD_

_Raptorchick: Heh, really? Well, he has natural skill, then, doesn't he? (my first time baking turned out worse... much worse)  
Our stories will never collide? Never say never, girl! It could happen (damn, that would be a hilarious one-shot...)_

_Juju: Hello, there! Jess is seventeen so far. XD_

_Specialguy: yup, yup, I get'cha. Been researching that, and probably'll have something 'bout it later. I think just eating Yautja flesh can do it, but i'd have to make sure. _

_DarkXeno: Wow, some of your ideas are pretty damn good... Have you ever tried your hand at writing? I think I'd really enjoy reading something that you wrote, considering that you have so many great ideas for things.  
Nice April Fool, btw. You almost ALMOST had me going, there. I was like "WTF?"  
It's always a pleasure to hear your nagging (snicker) no, really, it is! Who else'll keep me writing nonstop if not DARKXENO! (draws a dramatic, superhero pose of DarkXeno)  
Sorry, got carried away... XD (lighthearted teasing alert!)_

* * *

"Chopper, don't you think you've had enough?"

"What? I've only had four!"

I sighed and raised an eyebrow at the comical-looking Yautja, trying very hard not to laugh at his frosting covered mandibles and almost innocent look. Even his voice had risen slightly in pitch –something I had not thought possible- as he attempted to convince me to relinquish another of the desserts.

_Where's the big bad warrior now?_ I thought with a smirk, _Of all the times not to have a camera…_

"You were only _supposed_ to get _one_," I countered. I strode over to the counter and took a few paper towels from the roll, handing them to Chopper with an exaggerated sigh, "Clean your face off, man, you look like an idiot."

"The person covered in powder is saying that _I_ look like an idiot?" Chopper asked snidely as he attempted to get the frosting off. I rolled my eyes.

"_I_ make the powder look _good_," I retorted with a sharp grin, taking the pans and bowls that had been dirtied while baking and tossing them into the sink. Soon I had cleaned off the table once more, and I began gathering the stuff that would clean up the egg from the floor.

Funny though it had been, I was going to –for once- keep my promise to mom and clean whatever had happened to get messed up during my little lesson. I looked up as Chopper muttered something unintelligible but rude-sounding, "What was that?" I asked sweetly.

"I said 'funny you'," he answered, looking slightly uncomfortable. He was bending the truth, I could tell. Frankly, I had watched a bit too much South Park not to be able to figure it out. I glared for a moment, eyes narrowing in suspicion, but then shrugged and let it go.

The fact is, I knew he had never had much real sugar before, and the sugar high that was going to affect him later would be my sweet, sweet revenge. I felt an extremely evil smile tug at my lips as I thought of how a hyper Yautja might act, almost laughing at the several possible situations that established themselves in my head.

Finally, I managed to get all the egg off the floor, and I trashed the dirty paper towels I had used to clean with, giving a relieved sigh that turned into a groan as I turned to see Chopper trying to stuff another cupcake into his fanged mouth without me noticing. He stopped suddenly, eyes flicking over to me as I stood staring at him, one foot tapping slowly on the tile floor and arms crossed as I gave him a full powered glare. Slowly the hand holding the cupcake lowered, and his mandibles clicked together nervously.

"Might as well finish it now," I said with a heavy sigh, "But do _not_ eat any more. I certainly don't need you getting sick, and you're gonna be hyper enough within an hour to keep everyone in the house on their toes."

Chopper paused in surprise, eyes widening slightly as he stared down at the half eaten object in his clawed, mottled hand.

"Hyper?"

"That's what sugar does to you, man," I said, snorting with amusement, "And since I don't think you've ever had concentrated sugar before… Gods, I wish I had a camera right about now!"

"Oh, shit…"

_Heh, now my friends are starting to use my expressions!_

"Damn, man, now you're starting to sound like _me_!" I exclaimed aloud, looking mock-horrified, "Ahh! My personality's contagious! We're all doomed! _Dooomed_!"

Yes, I had also perhaps had one too many cupcakes than I really needed. What, could you seriously blame me? Come on, after a _month_ of no sugar besides the natural stuff found in fruit? Hell, I was just happy that the sugar hadn't gotten me to the point where I began to talk about radioactive breadboxes and the '_power of cheese popcorn!_'

"Jessie, lay off the cupcakes!" Mom's voice floated to me from where she was playing the Nintendo in her bedroom. I groaned, "I can here you from in here, and even though I can't understand you, I can tell you're getting worked up!"

"I _knoooow_ that!" I called back, "Just let me get 'em all in the boxes so Chopper can't sneak any more, either! Then I'll calm down and take a shower!"

"You need it!"

"Hey, be _nice_ to your beloved missing child!"

I glowered at Chopper, who was trying not to choke on the cupcake that he had decided to finish after all as he barely contained his sugar-induced giggles. Song lyrics he may have had trouble with, but normal talking he didn't, and he understood every word of my delightful conversation with my mother.

"Oh, go to hell," I growled at him, smirking as I firmly set the last stray cupcake into a container and slammed the lid down, cutting off all access to the sugary goodness for at least another day. I pointed at the closed container, a serious glare in my eyes, "I know _exactly_ how many cupcakes are in here, so if even _one_ is unaccounted for when I get back…" I left the threat hanging in midair, and let my smirk widen into a genuine smile when Chopper managed to look guilty, "Good. Now you have some free time, so go ahead and explore the house if you want. Just try not to break anything irreplaceable."

"Pessimist," he grumbled.

"Hey, beats being disappointed," I replied, flicking my fingers in a half-wave as I set off from the kitchen, passing through the living room and making my way down the hallway. I slowed when I came up to my mom's bedroom, peeking in around the corner and watching her play her video game on the old, original Nintendo she had set up on the bed with some hesitation. It still felt so weird to be able to see her again, to know that I was back home, and that she was right there…

"Hello," I chirped.

"Hey, Jess," she replied with a smile. Then, her face turned serious and she began furiously pushing buttons, muttering to herself and talking to the screen in a whiny voice that I couldn't help but chuckle at, mostly because it was exactly as I remembered her approach to games. The game she was playing was, as always, Super Mario Bros. 3. No matter how many times she beat a game, she always loved playing it again.

"How far you got?" I asked, moving into the door from where I had been leaning against the frame and settling back against the wall, staring at the tiny television screen that my mom's attention was so focused on.

"Seventh world," she answered. I snorted.

"Pretty good for only playing for about twenty minutes," I mused contentedly. With a sigh, I looked up at the clock, seeing with surprise that it was quite late. I looked outside at the dark nothing through the windows, a small inconsistency bothering me, "Hey," I said carefully, dreading any answer I might get and hating that I did but not able to leave the question be, "Where's Dad?"

"At the races," she replied easily. I sighed inaudibly in relief, "He'll be gone for a few days, but he needed the stress reliever. It's just that… after you disappeared…"

"I know," I said softly, my high spirits and threatening sugar rush having already disappeared completely due to the seriousness of the conversation, "Hard times for you guys an' all. I never… never wanted…" Damn. I was never good at emotional stuff!

"But you aren't planning on staying here, are you?" mom asked, interrupting me. I stayed silent for a long moment, mouth opening and closing like a fish as I tried to think of what to say.

"I… I don't belong in this world," I choked out finally, feeling as if the words were far too lame for the situation. It made me grimace to hear the sounds come out of my mouth, "I _never_ belonged here, you know that," I forced a weak smile to show as I shrugged my shoulders, "Heh, this way you don't have to worry about collage prices, anymore."

Yeah, that had been an old problem that I'd had, considering the college I had wanted to go to was pretty damn expensive.

She looked up at me, and I shifted uncomfortably as I saw tears threatening to run out of her eyes. Finally, I made up my mind and sat down on the bed, careful not to mess up the game, and brought her into a huge, tight hug. She felt so small, so fragile. I forced myself not to start crying, as well. The last thing anyone in the house needed was for me to break down.

_That's what you get for trying to make light of the situation_, I growled at myself angrily.

"I love you, Jessie," she said, her voice muffled, "I don't want you to leave."

"You can't keep me forever," I replied, voice soft and heavy as the guilt, the utter sadness, weighted me down. It may not have been a particularly nice thing to say, but it was the truth, and I felt that truth was more powerful for healing than all the well-meant lies in the world, "I _have_ to be free. You've known that for a long time, now."

"But I never thought it would be so soon," she sobbed, "I missed you so much, and now you're back… I don't know if I could stand losing you again."

_What? Is _**that**_ what she's so afraid of?_

"Losing me?" I asked, a small chuckle escaping me as I pushed my mom back to arms length, looking into her puffy, tear stained eyes with amusement. If there was but one chance to make her feel better about my decision, then this was it, "_Losing_ me? Whatever gave you _that_ idea? You could never lose me, mom! No matter what, I'll _always_ remember you, and I'll always love you, and the rest of the family. You _know_ that."

"But you won't be here…"

"Not in body," I said, hugging her again, "But I've lived here _way_ too long for my spirit to just up and leave! You know what you could do to remind you of me when you're feeling down, don't you?"

"What?"

_If this situation wasn't so serious, mom's confusion might be funny right about now…_

"Just get on the computer," I said with a sigh, "You always told me I spent too long on it, and I always told you that it was my life. So learn how to use it, and go ahead and read some of the stories that I made. I have a feeling you'd like them, even if they _are_ unfinished."

With that, I sat up, looking down at my leather-like armor and sighing. Hopefully, this whole spiel was over now. I smiled weakly and gave my mom a wink, seeing her grin back in return, her eyes still clouded with sadness but much of the edge gone.

"I'll try it, then."

"Good," I said, forcing myself to be more happy, "Now if you excuse me, I have a shower to take! I don't want to run anybody out of the room just by walking in, do I?"

She chuckled at that, and I grinned widely before turning to leave, glad that I could have lifted the spirits of the room a bit.

"Jessie?"

"Yeah?" I said, turning back with a curious look on my face.

"Your hair is fading. I have some more of the dye near the sink… I don't think you'll have time for it tomorrow, but if you want to take it wherever you're going…"

I stared blankly for a moment, absorbing the information and twiddling my faded, almost natural color hair in my fingers. Then, I smiled a wide, almost crazy smile.

"Lifesaver!" I practically screamed, bounding over to my mom and crushing her in a hug. She gasped, and I grinned sheepishly as I released her, remembering that I was a bit stronger now from my training then I had been before, "Hehe, sorry 'bout that… Thanks _so_ much, mom! I have been _so_ worried that I would never be able to get my hair back to my chosen color!"

"You're welcome," she said, brushing a stray strand of hair out of my eyes and plucking a loose strand from my armor, "You still shed like crazy… Heh, go take your shower. I love you."

"Love ya, too," I answered, bounding out of the room and down to my own room, striding immediately to my short, squat, hand-me-down dresser that I had gotten after my sister had moved out. I wondered briefly how she had taken the news that I had gone missing, but quickly quashed any thoughts on the matter, as they could only ruin what small part of the evening I had left. Instead, I focused on trying to find my old pajamas.

Hey, if I was gonna stay here, I was gonna be comfortable. No two ways about it!

"Found 'em!" I whispered to myself, pulling out the long, t-shirt material nightgown that I used to love and what I knew for a fact was more comfortable than just about any other nighttime clothing I had. It would feel good to be able to sleep in my own bed again, to feel that familiar pillow under my head and my multitude of special stuffed creatures –namely things I had gotten from my mom for Easter every year- sitting beside me as I slept.

It almost made me want to just jump on the bed and fall asleep right there, but I knew better.

I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, feeling the humidity of the room rise as the hot steam from the water billowed into the air. It reminded me a lot of the Yautja ship, and the way the temperature there always felt as if someone had just gotten out of the shower. Again, I found myself missing that second home I had found for myself, and I sighed as I stripped my armor off, running my fingers over the rough metal before setting it carefully on the counter. I would clean it later, after I had gotten comfortable. Perhaps I could even convince Chopper to sit still long enough to watch a movie as I cleaned it… I was pretty sure Yautja didn't have movies, or at least not the kind that humans did.

But to decide on the movie… Really, I was torn between AvP, Reign of Fire, or Princess Mononoke. All of the three were of a subject I was sure the Yautja would enjoy, but I instantly wrote off the third, as I didn't feel like sitting for three full hours or watching an animated film. Plus, I wasn't sure about the first one; it was one thing to tell them that they had been nothing but move characters, but to show them just might be too much, especially since Chopper had been the first one to die. Sure, being able to boo and throw stuff at the screen would be fun. But I really didn't need a depressed, sugar-high teen Yautja on my hands.

I sighed as the warm; almost hot water hit my skin, the problem of what to watch for the rest of the evening momentarily forgotten. There was just something about a shower that a bath didn't quite reach. Perhaps it was the constant pounding of the liquid on one's skin, but all I knew at the moment was that it felt wonderful and familiar. It was something I was used to, and I washed my hair gladly, reveling in the steady pressure of the multiple streams on my head, letting the dull roar wash away all other sounds or thoughts.

_Man, I love this_, I sighed in my mind, having to make a conscious effort not to fall asleep right there, _so peaceful…_

"Jess?"

All peaceful thoughts were shattered in an instant as I recognized the voice. Immediately, I was on edge, and very, very angry. Almost murderously angry, in fact.

"Chopper, what the fuck are you _doing_ in here!" I yelped, "Can't you see I'm taking a shower!"

Right then, I was just thanking any higher powers there might have been that there was a shower curtain blocking any eyefuls, but that didn't stop my rage. I cut off any reply that the Yautja might have been saying with an angry shriek as I hefted a heavy shampoo bottle that happened to be sitting on the shower shelf.

"Get out!" I yelled, "GET OUT NOW!"

With that, I scooted over just enough to be able to throw the bottle full force past the curtain.

WHAM!

_You're just lucky you're near the door!_ I snarled to Chopper in my mind, seething as I heard the other make a hasty and well-warranted escape out of the room. Too bad I had missed my target and probably dented the wall, instead, _Hell, you're just lucky that I didn't hit ya in yer dumbass head! Fucking Yautja have worse timing than the damn Xenos…_

Well, not really true, since Xeno's had the worst timing in the entire world, be it reality or otherwise, but still!

The rest of the shower went fairly quickly after that, since I didn't feel like relaxing, anymore. With a half sigh, half growl, I turned off the water, stepping out of the shower and drying off with a huge, fluffy towel before I slipped my pajamas on, still grumbling under my breath. Finally, after putting the shampoo bottle back in its place and gathering up the towel and my armor, I opened the door and stalked out, setting the towel into the laundry basket in the hall and making my way down to the living room with my armor in my arms, ignoring the sound of chuckles following me from my mom's room.

_Laugh now, but it wouldn't be funny if it happened to you_, I thought venomously, trying to ignore the growing feeling of amusement about the whole ordeal rising in the back of my mind. Finally, I gave up, but I kept my laughter in, and tried to keep the smile from my lips as I forced my eyes to remain angry,_ Okay, okay, it's funny, anyway. But I won't let Chopper know that!_

_Besides, it'll be fun to throw my armor at his head before I get a full explanation…_

* * *

_Yea! Armor throwing and MOVIES! Can anybody tell what my second favorite one is? (snicker)_


End file.
